Recently watched a video by a girl who went to YWAM (lot of similar theology to Bethel) talking about bullying and spiritual abuse there. In the end, she said her faith was still strong, but less than 6 months later, her next video was her deconversion story, "From Christian missionary to atheist." Good reminder that we need to make sure our faith is built on the truth.
Hey, the thing with YWAM is you can not generalize it because 1. YWAM doesn’t have a denomination 2. every YWAM base can be very different. Even inside of one YWAM base there can be very good and fruitful but also bad leadership. I can just say that the bases that I’ve been a part of had really fruitful ministries, offered great discipleship that changed a lot of peoples life longterm and were really focused on the Word. If anybody experienced something negative within YWAM than I’m so sorry for that, but it just comes down to the staff of different bases if it’s good or not
I am in the same place. I grew up in a couple of classical Pentecostal churches and then walked into NAR type churches for probably 15-16 years. In the past 2 years I’ve been walking away from that. This has been a rollercoaster to say the least. I have experienced more confusion than at times I’ve known what to do with. One moment I feel like I’m making the right move and the next I’m filled with terror that I’m blasphemy the Holy Spirit by questioning what I’ve seen. We are now part of a solid reformed church that makes every effort to teach and divide Scripture correctly to the best of their ability and holds accountability in high esteem. I’m relearning what my theology and faith looks like.
This is wonderful to hear! - and SUCH an encouragement to see how God works because he is FAITHFUL to keep us and retain our faith FOR us through those years of scatterdness. ...it was never beyond His control, His watchful eye, and His mighty hand to move at any time
Excellent testimony and advice. I have friends that are deep into the Bethel movement. The mother and daughter are both BSSM grads, daughter spent summer with Heidi Baker in Africa, so deeply bought in. I am going to forward to them prayerfully that God would break through the closed eyes and stopped up ears to see and hear the truth. The key is, as you note, know the Gospel, Study the Bible, understand the attributes of God (his HOLINESS is critically important to understand). Thanks for your heart and wisdom in sharing. FYI - have you read 'Knowedge of the Holy" by AW Tozer. It is a classic work that talks about the attributes of God in depth. A short, book that is absolute gold in understanding God's Nature and Attributes.
And listen to some “boring” pastors preach and some “boring” hymns sometimes. I used to think everything had to be a circus and a whole experience. I quickly learned that wasn’t true. Reverence is good.
Hi Jesse! My wife and I met at first year, and God brought us out of there. Thank you for speaking out against all of the false teachings! It was a hard time for us but God is so good!
Hi Jesse, I wasn't exactly where you were, but in my former hyper charismatic church I was always told I didn't have enough faith. After going through a time of agnosticism and restoration from my deconstruction, I realized the people telling me that were human like I am. So the first brick in my reconstruction was "how do they know how much faith I have?" Now I study God's Word using context, context AND context (thanks Pastor Chris!). Everything goes through the filter of God's Word!! Thanks for your channel and God keep blessing you and your family!!
I am very thankful for people like you who expose darkness in a godly way as the Bible commands us. Too many young people are being suckered into it because they see the passion in the musicians, and feel a great feeling that looks like God's presence when they listen to the songs that they assume God is all over the movement but God is not a God of movements. Once we understand that, we'll have our eyes open to a ton of problems in the Church today, and I hope new leaders will come up who live by and teach the unadulterated Gospel again.
My wife and I have been blessed by your videos. Our church is struggling with Bethel influence and you have given us so much insight. Thank you for doing the hard work of humbling yourself and rebuilding your theology. You are now on solid ground, on the Rock, and helping others. Your testimony and example is an inspiration. God bless you! Keep up the good work!
i say thank you, for being gentle, for giving those who may feel like they don't know what is real and what isn't, the essentials that puts the foundation of the gospel solidly under their feet.....
I left a NAR+WoF church two years ago that I had been in for four years and I am still on the journey of getting back to my original beliefs that I had before I entered that church and untangling myself from what I learned there. God is good, and I’m so grateful to Him for opening my eyes and helping me to step away from that movement. Thanks for making this video, I think this info is very needed.
Jesse- I've noticed when talking to the people from the "cult" that I was in for years, thatI one of the biggest barriers to them retaining their faith and not turning to atheism, is their confidence to find a church, how and who to trust, how can I trust myself because I screwed up last time, and where and how do I find one- I don't know what to believe. I understand that part of that walk is their effort to search, however, it is overwhelming to them to even start. - Thanks for bringing this up👍
Lord, I pray this message reaches they hearts and minds of those who need to hear it most. Reach their hearts Lord, soften their hearts to hear the truth in this message. In Jesus name x
I so appreciate your heart, Jesse. I'm a former Last Days Intensive Christian Training School student, much like YWAM and Bethel. It took a good two decades at least to relearn my theology. Sometimes it still pops up and I have to deal with the old lies again. Just keep going, brother , you are doing a good work, and it's affecting people more than you know. Thank you.
Jesse, I found your interview with TheMessedUpChurch a few days ago. I've known Bethel is a false church for years now, and have tried to warn fellow Christians. I finally found a church that I thought was Bible based but over the past few years have seen new age seeping into their thinking. Last Sunday, I found out that John Wilds and his worship team will be leading a night of worship at my church and I'm sick to my stomach. I won't serve two Masters, so I will no longer be involved with that church. My heart is broken but I trust in our Heavenly Father & pray that my church family would find discernment in these matters. God bless you for speaking out.
It's not just Bethel I was part of a Pentecostal organisation up until 2001 where prophecy directed people to uproot families , marry people etc etc. I did go through a period of bitterness as directive prophecy affected ne quite badly esp in regards to my mental health . Whether some prophecies were false or not I don't know. What I did realise regardless of the practices I saw God was faithful and people are flawed and at times badly flawed. It was the faithfulness of God that has brought me through everything. Many have turned away for various reasons and that is very sad but keep your eyes on Jesus . He is the author and finisher of your faith. He doesn't always taken pain away but he walks with us through the struggle.
Thank God you came out of there!!! I’m happy to hear you are studying reformed theology. I came out of NAR too. I didn’t know that it was false doctrine. Praying that others will see the truth too. Lord Jesus help!
I have been on my own journey from Bethel (never went but was enamored by everything Bethel). I am the worship leader at my congregation and the leader at my congregation has helped here and there but has always been aware of my condition. At times I’ve been sat down from serving as worship leader, even though that has left the congregation without one for quite some time. I’m back now though. Waking up to Bethel’s condition was definitely a rude awakening. One sermon that really helped me and continues to help me is Ten Shekels and a Shirt by Paris Redhead. It is an old sermon, but it was incredibly eye opening. I highly recommend it and I hope it aids you as well. Christianity as a whole (in America at least) has been infiltrated with false doctrine and a false gospel that goes back decades if not longer than that. I hope you give it a listen. “May the Lamb who has been slain receive the reward of His suffering!”
Jesse keep up the good work. The truth needs to come forth. I grew up in a Christian home. I was exposed to the various Charismatic movements. Family members got involved with Bethel and I was caught up into it from hearing all the great signs and wonders. I started attending churches that had an affiliation with Bethel. I was going through some difficulties in my marriage and was desperate. I wanted to hear the prophetic for guidance and answers. I was totally unaware of the new age practices I was being introduced to. Several years ago I was working in Port Angeles. I went into a store in downtown Sequim and there was a sign that said Free Prayer. So I said why not. After the shop owners prayed for me they invited me to church. It was the church you came out of. I went there many times and even took my family. I attached some of the prophetic conferences there as well as some at other churches in the Seattle area. I was being mentored by a pastor who attended Bethel School. Long story short I started discovering and questioning much like you did. My eyes became open to things that didn’t line up with scripture. I was lacking a solid foundation of the Word. The more I read and understood the more my eyes were opened. I started a journey of studying apologetics and that has changed my world. I am so grateful to have not continued down the path of false teachings and false prophecies. As I once heard someone say “Abuse can feel like love. Starving people will eat anything “
@@faith_reframed I first went there in 2012 ish. . I live in Bellingham. My work would send me and I would often go to church when in the area. I also have friends who use to attend there. My last time was 2019. I think I still have a tshirt somewhere in my closet (IREV)
I still believe the gifts are for today, and unfortunately there has been a lot of spiritual abuse that has happened. A really good book that touches on this is “Surprised by the Power of the Spirit” by Jack Deere. A really good read ❤️🙏🏼
Jack Deere's story of moving from cessatist beliefs to experiencing the gifts are quite compelling. I would love to see Jesse talk to him, largely because he is a greek scholar and could explain things with much more depth than most Charismatic leaders could. Also, I agree with you. There are charlatans and abusive leaders in the charismatic movement, as there have been in basically any movement throughout church history.
@@johnstinson8526 Amen. I would love to see that as well with any questions Jesse might have and being able to go through the word with the greek! I know Remnant Radio has done some talks with him.
Early Pentecostals were cessationsists. The belief that the Apostolic gifts have continued since the time of the Apostles has only been since the 1970s. The original Pentecostals were restorationists. Believing that YHWH restored the gifts of the Apostles. The gifts of the Spirit still exists, the sign gifts of the Apostles don’t. The Bible is clear on that too.
Thank you for making this video. So grateful 🙏 My Bible study group has been listening to bethel music and we became convinced here in Ohio that something was really wrong. Some of our friends think we were being harsh or judging. Now more and more people are saying the same thing and people's eyes are being open. Praise God for leading you and so many away from this new age ungodly movement! Now, do you have a Playlist of worship music ?! 😄😄
Hey Jesse! Just saw you in the American Gospel: Spirit and Fire trailer. Looking forward to hearing what you have to say in that interview as well. Keep the God glorifying content coming!
Absolutely excellent brother! You nailed it! You literally put into words my experiences dead on! Including the things I had to focus on / re learn / emphasize
I like your prayer - humble grateful and hardworking! Also thank you for sharing the walk in the park vs mountain climbing analogy. These were good takeaways for me. God Bless you on your walk.
Just subscribed. Love your gentle Christlike spirit. Your critique is seasoned with grace and humility. I am Charismatic but I lean towards Reformed theology, after coming out of the Word Faith movement. I was also a huge fan of William Braham, Benny Hinn, T.D. Jakes and Rod Parsley. But the Holy Spirit moved me towards John Macarthur, Grudem, Calvin, Luther, Sproul, Packer and other Reformed teachers. I am enjoying your videos. Keep up the great work. The charismatic community desperately needs this godly reproof
Amen Amen bro ,🙏to everything you said and prayed. Yes it’s hard work to deconstruct well ingrained bad theology and renew our minds in the true Word. It’s intense and exhausting at times but like you said , sooooo worth it. To understand true freedom and peace in Christ. Thankyou for sharing your experience of it with us. Such an encouragement. Praying for you and your family.
I've been through the same th I g. I was on the worship team for a church that was an offshoot of Casey Treat's church. I began questioning things and eventually left the church. Although I lived 3 blocks away from the church nobody called or stopped by to ask me how I was doing. I went through a few years of wandering and seeking a good church. I eventually got lost and began drinking heavily. Finally, within the past two years I began watching videos of others earning about these "word of faith" churches. Then I bought a new Bible and began reading it again. Then I began looking for a Gospel-centered church. I eventually found a church where I've been going to regularly. Through all of the years I never lost my faith in Christ. GOD was there for me when I came back and asked forgiveness. If a church is not preaching the same Gospel that Paul preached, and they're waterproofing the next upcoming series, stay away and find a new church. We don't need to hear another series....we need to hear the Gosoel. Thanks for sharing your story. It helps me heal from what I went through. 🙏
Hello, I have watched a few of your videos now as UA-cam suggested you because I am subscribed to Mike Winger. Very interesting stuff… I can see with the background you and your family have experienced with Bethel why you feel like you feel about all spiritual gifts. I grew up in a charismatic church in the 80’s and 90’s. I now attend a very middle ground nondenominational church that believes in the gifts of the spirit but it isn’t something you see much of regularly in services. So I would just like to share something that happened to me when I was 14. I was questioning God’s existence and prayed to God a very heart felt prayer telling God I felt like He didn’t hear me and I was talking to the air. I cried out to God… I asked Him to tell me His plan for my life. Two weeks later I went on a mission trip to Mexico with a bunch of people I didn’t know with a random youth group. During this trip there was a church service where there was an alter call and I went up. (This was very out of character for me. I never did these things) A man I did not know came behind me and started to pray and then said to me “You have been asking God this question” He then told me word for word what I said to God a couple of weeks before… I am not exaggerating at all…. He told me that God would show me what to do each step as I get there. Now this wasn’t the answer I was looking for but it completely didn’t matter. This encounter changed my life! I have never questioned God’s existence and I absolutely know He HEARS every word I speak to Him. This was indeed a miracle and to beat all I never told the man who spoke to me while praying. He had no idea the extent of what he shared with me. After this I didn’t seek more “words of knowledge” or “prophecy” This was simply God being God. So I guess why I am sharing this with you is because I want you to know God still uses real gifts of the spirit. It isn’t all fake. God bless you and your family❤️
Thanks so much for sharing this. I am having struggles coming away from Bethel teachings as well. It has been a real kick in the gut since last October and feeling very lost but thanks to you and the couple on messed up church channel, and Mike Winger I think I will make it. If only I could find the strength to get back to church. Please keep posting.
What a fantastic video. Thank you so much. I feel like this so my husband and I right now. When you said some of it is cringy I can so relate. Thank you for sharing your story!! It’s such an encouragement to me!
I recently found you, thank you for sharing your testimony. Thank you for making these videos. It's really important for people to hear the other side of Bethel. Many people don't know what goes on behind the door of BSSM and the church. I agree, people need to read their Bible and know the Gospel. It's easy to be decived if we're lacking in knowledge of the Scriptures. God bless!
What a beautiful exhortation. May I also be as gracious and compassionate with those who have lost their way. One day, it could be myself, God forbid. God bless your ministry as you continue to walk out your faith journey in Him, my brother 🙏🏾
My journey went from evangelical S. Baptist… to exploring calvinism and reformed theology (a lot of Tim Keller God rest his soul)… to eventually finding truth in catholicism. It is a huge challenge and a fair bit of work to wrestle with the idea that what you believe might be wrong. However, by the grace of God, He will be with you, and lead you to a deeper faith. It’s important to remember that God loves you, even if you are dead wrong in your theology, but He will help you if you ask Him.
I'm watching your videos because I have been more concerned about Bethel and their teachings, and I want to hear from someone who was there and not just from people on the outside looking in. I want to understand how people get drawn in and how they come to overlook teaching that is not in keeping with Scripture. For a long time I defended Bethel as fellow believers in the body of Christ, and I accepted what the leaders publicly said about what was going on at Bethel. But those same leaders are now becoming more open about what are clearly New Age leanings. You are saying that your experience was of encouragement in those practices all along, so I want to hear your side of the story. And I came upon your video specifically when I watched Mike Winger's most recent video about Bethel. I have a high regard for Mike Winger's teaching.
Bro I can fully relate to what you went through and are going through. Was in a Hyper-Charismatic church for 7 years, participated in lots of things that didn't feel right about, found scripture to back my experiences though I had to twist them to do so. But by the grace of God, I started to look at scripture with the concerns I always had and realized things were WAY off. Had many conversations with church leadership but nothing was resolved and I had to step down and walk away, was one of the hardest things I've had to do, felt like I lost family. Like you said I've almost had to rebuild my faith from the ground up. It has been a hard journey. Thank you for this video may I have the courage to sent it to friends still deep in this movement. God bless brother!
Great chat Jesse, I recently came out of a very charismatic bethel influenced church. The two pastors were heavily into bethel and I got caught up in it all myself and was involved in music ministry and worship leading until I started to question some things during the 2020/2021 lockdowns and that didn’t go down too well 😢 Walking away was like losing my family and it still hurts my heart at times. And it’s caused me to question everything about Christianity but my faith in Jesus is still strong but I am weak. We can not find a good church in our area and I am very confused by all the different denominations and differences in theology 😔 We are in Australia 🇦🇺
God is taking me on the same journey. I was a GSSM student and intern. The Lord is having me heavily study scripture and seeing the faults in my former beliefs. I am steadfast in the faith, currently a missionary, still believing in healing and prophecy, but I have a guarded heart now and take the "prophetic words" to scripture and pray for healing regardless of results. Thanks for the video.
@The Westwoods I receive it, man. As you know, it's super challenging. I went from a non-believer to being saved in the Anglican church to finding global. That's where all my theology came from and all my beliefs of the gifts. Do you have any pastors or teachers you recommend listening to?
A good place to start is Vodi, Baucham, Paul, washer, RC, Sproul, and Alistair Begg is one of my favorite. Also, a great book to start with is fundamentals of the faith by John MacArthur. I personally am not a Calvinist, even though he is, the book is incredibly good at helping you establish a strong foundation. Can’t recommend enough.
@@richardsmith356 I have some recommendations. Paul Washer, Voddie Bauchem, John MacArthur, Steve Lawson, Alistair Begg, Bob DeWaay Anthony Rogers, Matthew Everhardt, Bryan Wolfmueller, and Johnathan Fisk.
Thank you for the work your doing. I came out of a Vineyard church that was doing a lot of BSSM stuff. I stumbled upon Reformed Theology when visiting Holland MI and my eyes began to open! I’m now attending a Reformed church in my city (which wasn’t easy to find) and I’ve had to relearn how to pray and read the Bible but Oh what a wonderful journey!! 💕
Went through this as well, not in as deep, but started studying evangelical theology, and started questioning everything. As you say, studying God's attributes and the Gospel 🤗. 😊Can't find a good church though. Thank you for sharing your experience. Bless you brother
🇹🇹 Thanks for your vids, just watched a whole bunch of them after it was suggested to me since I follow Mr. Winger. The things you said were very familiar to me as the church I used to go to uses some techniques you outlined word for word. I always found it strange that they were trying to teach prophecy, I mean how do you teach a gift either you have it or you don't, and if you want it you pray to the dispenser of such gifts. I long to see the day when the body of Christ does "greater things" than He did as He promised we would when He was here, and I believe that miracles are happening today. But I also believe that our goal is to fulfil our purpose which is to love people, share the gospel and grow in right relationship with Jesus. Be encouraged brother, keep doing what you are doing. God bless you and your family ❤🔥
I’d be so curious on your thoughts on why the Gospel is not very grasped in some Bethel circles, despite some Bethel worship songs that seem to be very biblically sound?? For example the song “This is Amazing Grace” by Jeremy Riddle is really biblical and good. So I’m very curious why you think there is a disconnect between the theology in their songs and the theology at BSSM? I wonder why BSSM theology is so different from the theology that their songs portray. It seems like their songs are theologically decent. Since you were involved in their worship/production circles, I would be very interested in your insight on that
Thanks Jessie. Please retain your gentle and humble stance , and for your sharing of your time with Bethel. We must pray for our brothers and sisters caught up in this movement…….I like Mike Winger’s attitude too. I have been caught up into Word of Faith teaching too, and gradually having to extricate myself from one of these churches after 10 years. I genuinely love the pastor and his wife and many of my friends are there…….it is a real grief I have endured during the past few years. My questions were never answered to my satisfaction….in fact, questioning is not encouraged, is seen as rebellion…….looking for a church to attend at present. Some of the people who have come out of Bethel are not gracious in their criticism……laughing openly and almost prideful…….please pray for them as well……
Thank you for doing this. There is so much in what you are describing that crosses over to other Christian groups involved in new age and cult-like practices.
As an agnostic that's taking a very hard look at Christianity (after a string of crazy experiences over the last 6 months that I really can't explain) I'm really happy I found you and your channel. Some of the stuff I went through had me seeking out people who had experience with that sort of thing... Which naturally lead to Bethel alumni. After digging into it, something kind of just felt a bit off. After finding your commentary on Mike Winger's video, your Breaking Bethel series helped make sense of the inconsistencies I saw. Like someone else quoted, "questions should lead to answers that edit your faith". So thank you for answering a bunch of mine. I have a question for you though, if you don't mind sharing: During your year or so of atheism, what was it that lead you back to re-explore your faith? Was it an inclination to believe? Or was there something else you experienced that brought you back?
Hay brother, my wife and I also walked away from the charismatic church where I was also one of the worship leaders. It’s been about three years for us as well. For me, the hardest part has been wanting to make sure that my worship is pure and authentic since leaving that church. This thought still makes it hard for me to pick up my guitar and worship at home by myself. Luckily we never lost our faith in Jesus, we just wanted to know what true Christianity looked like. So we just took some time to better know and understand what our bibles really said and that has help so much. We live in OKC now and have found an amazing church here called Henderson Hills if anyone is in this area looking for a sold church. As a matter of fact, last sundays message was in Titus about the dangers of false teaches. Anyway…keep up the good work your doing here! 🤙
My whole life was rooted in Charismania and only in the last couple years have I realized the many lies. However, as a worshipper that believed my purpose was helping people better connect with and feel God, I don’t know what to do now and I question whether I have ever known the true Jesus based on fruit in my life. I’ve also been constantly saying repentance prayers that feel very heartfelt but not seeing true change….ever learning, but never coming to the knowledge of truth maybe. So I’ve been miserably questioning my salvation since 2019. In addition, I always thought the pattern for sharing Jesus was the message accompanied with Holy Spirit, so I don’t know how to move forward with great commission because I still feel strongly that just talking is useless for this generation. Thus, I feel like I have lost my way, maybe what I thought was God in my worship moving people was emotionalism, and I don’t know how to move forward. I welcome any thoughts or insights you might have.
Brother, this is EXACTLY how we felt. There is hope. Email me but I will be doing more content going through stuff like this. Please don’t lose your faith, please hold on. Buy the book “fundamentals of the faith” by John MacArthur. I am not even a Calvinist, but it’s just a great book for getting your foundation of faith put back together. He goes over the purpose of the Bible, why it was written, and so many other things that does help you establish a strong foundation. If you can’t afford it, let me know. Thewestwoodhome@gmail.com
I'm a pastor at a small church. In our small town, we have a Bethel associated church, with the leadership primarily coming from the Supernatural School. I have struggled with what to do when speaking about the church and movement. The pastor is a nice guy, but we are seeing more and more of the Bethel direction in his teaching and work in the community. Right now, they are the church drawing many of the young families in our community. I have not wanted to be negative and be seen as being jealous because of their reach, but if this is toxic theology, how do we best approach this in grace. I am praying that there will be key people in their congregation who have their eyes opened to the heresy and seek to remove themself from that environment.
Looking for a good solid church in Chattanooga, Tn!!! I hope u can help!!! We are moving … my hubby is a pastor and so worn out with charismatic movt… the music, ugh… Ty for taking so much time for us
I am not familiar with Chattanooga. But I am familiar with Lutheran Church Missouri Synod [LCMS]. First Lutheran Church seems vibrant. Go to an LCMS church and hear the Word. The simple gospel. By grace alone through faith.alone in Christ alone.
I was a believer in William Branham as a prophet. I know you've heard of him, because he is revered in Bethel-ish circles. He was an absolute heretic, false teacher, and deceiving false prophet. Many who leave him leave God altogether, because they never really knew Him. Thank God for His grace and mercy forgiving me and saving me from this! What you do is SO needed. I am praying it draws many out of these false belief systems and into a real relationship with Jesus Christ.
I appreciate the gentleness and humility of this presentation. I'm still a full-on charismatic, but I'm willing to listen to and consider other viewpoints that are presented in love. God bless you, and may He reward your faithfulness.
Hello from Terrebonne, Quebec, Canada I was in a word of faith movement for 21 years. I thank God that He made me come out of that movement. It was an evangelical church in Montreal at MCI Canada, with Alberto Carbone et Manon Carbone. They were pastors of the church and also each one of them had a group of 12 who also became pastors. So we had 12 pastors men and 12 pastors women. Thank God He opened my eyes about this and many falses teachings, false doctrines. It's because of programs like your channel also Justin Peters, John MacArthur, voodie Baucham, Ken Ham, Long for truth with Daniel and Robin Long... The pastor senior of the church give many times propheties to the church or us. That was wrong, that was not from God. They also teach about the word of faith...prosperity. Cannot say negatif things because it could happen to us or you could attract negatif things in your life. They ointed people in the church with supposedely holly oil. They are imposing to give you the baptism of the Holly Spirit to. I didn't feel good anymore in this church and I had so many questions about their doing and their teachings, their association with Hillsong for their songs and their pastors Brian and Bobbie Houston camemany times to our church for week-end conventions. They are imposing their hands to people to heal them or to pray somethings in their lifes. I've payed my 10 percent of my social security money every month. I stopped few years ago to give them money. And it's going to 5 years now that I get out of there. Thank God. So I watch preachings on UA-cam like, John MacArthur, Voodie Baucham, and your channel to learn many truths written in the Bible. Thank God for your testimony,
I appreciate your perspective. I’ve been in a very similar boat. Only I actually came out of the Reformed camp where they prided themselves in their theology, but was absent of life and sprit. Several years ago I moved myself and my family to Redding and now attending Bethel, hungry for believers looking for the power to their faith. While Bethel isn’t perfect, find a church that is. Having now worked with many of the Senior leaders I can tell you one thing, and that’s that they genuinely have a heart for going after Jesus. If you haven’t already checked out the series “rediscovering Bethel” it’s a must watch. They cover it all.
I was at IHOPKC from 08-12, and was apart of the awakening. It was awesome at the time.....but I came to the conclusion that all of their prophetic history is bunk. Now I'm happily catholic.
I never went to Bethel, or attended a Bethel church. But I attended a Rehma church (very similar theology, kinda like sisters) for all my teen years. Watching this touches all the feels. I understand this deep down.
"Being a worship leader as an atheist". That made me laugh. I've been there. Bethel music is wonderful though. As humans, we are all just seeing through a glass darkly. Gotta keep going! God bless you, man.
I tried to go to BSSM three times. Every time they referred me to BSSD. It was overall fun and also terrible when we left. Looking back, the entire time I questioned so much of what was going on. And something just felt off. I asked a lot of questions and was silenced a lot. By the time we decided to leave, Leadership in Eureka was falling apart and for some reason Redding never worked out for me. The best thing I got there was meeting my amazing husband- and exposure to professional level music standards. I grew a ton as a musician. When we left, I went through a massive period of deconstruction and never wanted to lead or play in worship bands ever again. I didn’t understand the point. Sick of the show. I hated church and the machine of ministry. And I saw through shallow leaders. But by Gods grace the last two years I have rebuilt and reconstructed my faith in the Lord has rocked my world. God is so good. My husband walked through it with me and as a result we have grown deeper and stronger in our faith. We struggle with what to do in church now but we are in a community now that we serve in that’s messy, but are my husbands old friends. They are good people but there’s a lot of weird stuff. Also, we know where we stand and are committed to relationship and feel called here. It’s all a work in progress as we work out our faith. Thank you for your videos. I’m so encouraged by you
2Cor 1: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.fn 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.
Similar to my story, in that i discovered Durbin & co and the gospel suddenly presented itself, and things I'd taken issue with in my charismatic background were shed
Just watched your Mike Winger reaction video and then this. Please don't stop. It is so refreshing to hear that there are people that come out of that theology who were so emphatic and apart of it. There are many out there who think they believe in and love Christ but are so mislead, I just pray the Lord will open those peoples hearts like he has for you.
I didn’t grow up in Bethal, but I grew up in the Vineyard, which is a charismatic church founded by John Wimber, who was influenced by Bill Johnson. I don’t believe that a ton of new age theology was taught at our church, but we believed in praying healing in the name of Jesus and if you prayed for God to give you a picture in your head, that he would. So pretty much, I thought God gave me stuff that probably came from my mind. Instead of seeking the Word, I always prayed for God to give me a sign or a word about major life decisions. What car should I buy? Should I marry this particular girl? My theology wasn’t fully grounded in the word and was more grounded in experiences and trying to determine voices in my head. And that caused me to distance myself from God for a few years. But God kept tugging at my heart to come back to Him. Now, I’m pursuing the Bible and trying to see my experiences through a biblical lens.
My friend's son has been going to a Bethel following church. He recently told everyone that he has now been fully baptized with the Holy Spirit. He does seem 'different' but in a lovey dovey, carefree, super chilled kind of way. Recently he had an opportunity to chat about his new found experience with one of his university tutors. He said they talked about God, faith, Jesus and even about the need for repentance. The teacher wants to go along to my friend's son's Bethel type church. My friend is very aware of the new age practices and the 'watered down gospel' and she is obviously concerned about all of this. It's confusing to us- it all looks like the real thing but its just not sitting right. How does one deal with this dilemma? Is it real? Is it clever counterfeit?
Yes! Questions are good. But they are often not allowed. Sadly. Also they are waiting for some great revival before the end, which is not biblical. They avoid the book of revelation. It's like they're scared of the revealing of Christ... And since this great revival hasn't happened the end cannot be near. According to them. Just interesting...
And learn about God’s providence and sovereignty. We are not speaking our futures into existence. We are not cursed with a curse as Christian. The testing of our faith brings about perseverance; trials do not equal curses. God loves you. He is in control. He does not make us find Him; He found us. There are no secrets. The Bible is not full of allegory. It is open and can be understood by anyone.
Before I became a Christian, I was dating someone who I perceived to be Christian. She used to push me to go to church with her. It was always to revivals at charismatic churches. I think that’s the only time she went to church. Even as an atheist I still knew what I saw in these Pentecostal churches was wrong. Nothing made sense. People falling down, running around the church like their pants were on fire, making lots of weird noises (later I found out this was tongues.) Some time later I became a Christian and realized from reading the Bible for the first time that those churches were whacked. When I became saved I devoted so much time studying scripture. I could not get enough. I ended up losing my job because I could not stop reading the Bible. I lived in Atlanta, GA at the time. I had a lot of Pentecostals coming at me. Arguing with me and giving me their books to read. One book I read I only read a few chapters and threw the book away. Didn’t even give it back to the person who gave it to me. The stuff in the book was so incredible I knew it was unbiblical. Like, YHWH blasting a pulpit apart inside a church while a pastor was behind it and throwing him back and unconscious. People falling down in the doorway of the church screaming in agony until they submitted to YHWH. The author even made an incredulous statement, imaging what could have happened if the Holy Spirit could have got out of that church. That’s when I threw the book away. The pastor of one of those churches sat with me and we had a discussion, him trying to convince me of Pentecostalism, when we finished the only thing he said was, you really know your bible. I had only been a believer for a couple months. I always prayed that YHWH would keep me from false teachings. And He has. From the moment I believed I’ve had great discernment. I’m not saying I never had false beliefs and didn’t have to grow or study hard to understand stuff. I thank YHWH for keeping me from these false religions and false Christs.
It is super important to understand what you believe. If you believe that Jesus is your Savior you gotta be able to explain what he saved you from. As the body of Christ we should be mainly focused on this one truth wich is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No matter where you are, what church you are going to or what denomination you are, make sure that you’re deeply rooted in the Word. The same way, the Bible explains us the Gospel it talks about the holy spirit, and we can not choose and pick from the Word what we like or dislike. Let’s love one another - don’t let anger, disappointment or a judging attitude get in the way between you and God
I'm so glad that you have been sent as our super humble spiritual leader to tell us how we have been wrong and how you have gotten to the top of the mountain and know what is right. Thank you for your superior knowledge to let us know what the real "truth" is. I'm so glad you are all right and that none of this came out of your hurt because of some wrong prophetic words. I'm so glad you listened when they talked about how to handle prophetic words and you didn't put all your faith in those words instead of God. Oh wait...
I LOVE JEFF DURBIN! His God's sovereignty and Judas changed my understanding of what I had actually believed my whole life! YOU CAN'T GO WRONG WITH R C SPROUL EITHER!!!
"Rather than putting ourselves in the text, put Jesus in the text." - Good word. I would also add, "Find" Jesus in the text; all the text, not just the New Testament.
How do you understand I Thess 5:20, "Do not despise prophecies..."? Is it possible that Paul wrote this exactly for the experiences that you've described?
Jesse, I take issue with a lot in your videos, but I think this is one of your better ones. You're not the only person I've encountered who has been disillusioned with the charismatic church, and it's quite common. Though I would say that disillusionment with church at large is also very common and people are leaving all churches quite rapidly. It's not surprising to me that more and more people will leave the church for various reasons, and I expect that without something major happening such as a revival those numbers will continue to decline. (I mean revival in the historical sense where entire communities turn back to God, and not as it's used in the Charismatic Movement to mean an outbreak of signs and wonders and the presence of God, though I do believe that is valuable). I'm genuinely glad to hear that you haven't lost your faith. That said, I have a few questions for you: 1. Why did you continue to lead worship for so long after becoming an Atheist? Didn't that feel disingenuous? It seems like the same core issue you had when you applied to Bethel, but in a different context. Can you speak into this? 2. What restored your faith? If you threw it all out, what led you back? It had to be more than just theology. 3. You've stated in the comments before that you're an Anabaptist Mennonite. If you study their history it's well documented that they were founded in Charismatic experiences, some which would make people at Bethel balk (I read about a nude parade... haven't confirmed). How do you follow a denomination that was founded in Charismatic manifestations?
Hey thanks for the feedback! 1. I gave the church I was serving at 9 month notice so they could find a replacement. I stopped taking a pay check to free up the church funds was simply giving them time to find a replacement 2. A Jordan Peterson quote-“I choose to live my life in such a way where there is a god to be held accountable to.” That gave me enough faith to step out of atheism into some sort of deist belief. That’s when I reproached Christianity. 3. I have been doing a lot of homework on the Anabaptist movement and I haven’t seen anything about charismatic events starting it. They are called anabaptist for new baptism. Adult baptism not pedobsptism. Martin Luther drowned one of the first as a response and the other founder was a former catholic monk that thought Luther didn’t reform enough.
@@faith_reframed Thanks for the reply. 1. Are you saying they let you lead worship for 9 months knowing you were an atheist? That's crazy for any church. 2. It's been really incredible to see JP's journey of faith. I'm glad his journey impacted yours. 3. Look up their Wikipedia article for starters. There are also several articles online where scholars detail the Charismatic aspects of their faith before they split over it down the road. But if I read the dates correctly, there were charismatic manifestations before they officially broke off from Zwinglianism. I understand part of the persecution came from their theology on the 2nd baptism and their refusal to join state churches, but it was also due to charismatic manifestations.
@@johnstinson8526 1. They didn’t know. I kept it from them so I wouldn’t stir the pot and try to keep the church moving forward without causing a huge stir 2. Love JP 3. Yea I’ll look into it. Either way the early reformers all have messed. From anti semitism to murders. The church I am in does not believe in gifts for today (the whole conference doesn’t) presents a full gospel, and has great leadership/accountability/discipleship
@@faith_reframed 1. If you did it over again, would you do the same thing (stick it out as a worship leader as an atheist)? I'd actually be interested in hearing your story prior to Bethel. From your first video it sounded like getting in was a really big deal to you. Were you thinking BSSM might help you get past some of the things you were hiding when you arrived? 3. This is true, the reformers showed themselves to be just as diabolical as the churches they split away from. Interestingly, the Huguenots, the Moravians, the Quakers, the Holiness Church, and Methodists experienced similar things and were persecuted for them. The thing is, charismatic experiences are documented throughout church history. Many of the denominations that now denounce charismatic manifestations were founded in them. In the 1960s several mainline denominations experienced charismatic manifestations. I'm sure you go to an excellent church, and I mean that sincerely. Even if your theology doesn't line up with mine, to me there's more than enough room in the body of Christ for multiple schools of thought/experience. I personally don't 100% line up with everything said and done at Bethel, but I haven't heard them once preach a false gospel. If nothing else, they seem to fall in line with much of church history.
Recently watched a video by a girl who went to YWAM (lot of similar theology to Bethel) talking about bullying and spiritual abuse there. In the end, she said her faith was still strong, but less than 6 months later, her next video was her deconversion story, "From Christian missionary to atheist." Good reminder that we need to make sure our faith is built on the truth.
Haha. I had to do a double take on this comment. I initially read it as you saying she went to YHWH and experienced all those things. Whew.
@@SolaGratia. 😆 yeah, that would be concerning.
Yes I was in YWAM too. It is full 9of spiritual abuse!
Hey, the thing with YWAM is you can not generalize it because 1. YWAM doesn’t have a denomination 2. every YWAM base can be very different. Even inside of one YWAM base there can be very good and fruitful but also bad leadership. I can just say that the bases that I’ve been a part of had really fruitful ministries, offered great discipleship that changed a lot of peoples life longterm and were really focused on the Word.
If anybody experienced something negative within YWAM than I’m so sorry for that, but it just comes down to the staff of different bases if it’s good or not
Sad, I had no idea.
I am in the same place. I grew up in a couple of classical Pentecostal churches and then walked into NAR type churches for probably 15-16 years. In the past 2 years I’ve been walking away from that. This has been a rollercoaster to say the least. I have experienced more confusion than at times I’ve known what to do with. One moment I feel like I’m making the right move and the next I’m filled with terror that I’m blasphemy the Holy Spirit by questioning what I’ve seen.
We are now part of a solid reformed church that makes every effort to teach and divide Scripture correctly to the best of their ability and holds accountability in high esteem. I’m relearning what my theology and faith looks like.
So glad to hear that 🙌🏼 thanks for sharing
This is wonderful to hear! - and SUCH an encouragement to see how God works because he is FAITHFUL to keep us and retain our faith FOR us through those years of scatterdness. ...it was never beyond His control, His watchful eye, and His mighty hand to move at any time
What church is this, I need it.
Excellent testimony and advice. I have friends that are deep into the Bethel movement. The mother and daughter are both BSSM grads, daughter spent summer with Heidi Baker in Africa, so deeply bought in. I am going to forward to them prayerfully that God would break through the closed eyes and stopped up ears to see and hear the truth. The key is, as you note, know the Gospel, Study the Bible, understand the attributes of God (his HOLINESS is critically important to understand). Thanks for your heart and wisdom in sharing. FYI - have you read 'Knowedge of the Holy" by AW Tozer. It is a classic work that talks about the attributes of God in depth. A short, book that is absolute gold in understanding God's Nature and Attributes.
And listen to some “boring” pastors preach and some “boring” hymns sometimes. I used to think everything had to be a circus and a whole experience. I quickly learned that wasn’t true. Reverence is good.
Spurgeon once said - “if it takes a carnival to get people into church, it will take repeated carnivals to keep them there”. Wise words…
So true
Hi Jesse! My wife and I met at first year, and God brought us out of there. Thank you for speaking out against all of the false teachings! It was a hard time for us but God is so good!
Blessings and thanks for sharing 🙏🏼
Hi Jesse, I wasn't exactly where you were, but in my former hyper charismatic church I was always told I didn't have enough faith. After going through a time of agnosticism and restoration from my deconstruction, I realized the people telling me that were human like I am. So the first brick in my reconstruction was "how do they know how much faith I have?" Now I study God's Word using context, context AND context (thanks Pastor Chris!). Everything goes through the filter of God's Word!! Thanks for your channel and God keep blessing you and your family!!
Praise the Lord you didn’t fall away 🙌🏼 thank you for this and praying for you in this time of reconstruction 🙏🏼❤️🙏🏼
Good❤
I am very thankful for people like you who expose darkness in a godly way as the Bible commands us. Too many young people are being suckered into it because they see the passion in the musicians, and feel a great feeling that looks like God's presence when they listen to the songs that they assume God is all over the movement but God is not a God of movements. Once we understand that, we'll have our eyes open to a ton of problems in the Church today, and I hope new leaders will come up who live by and teach the unadulterated Gospel again.
My wife and I have been blessed by your videos. Our church is struggling with Bethel influence and you have given us so much insight. Thank you for doing the hard work of humbling yourself and rebuilding your theology. You are now on solid ground, on the Rock, and helping others. Your testimony and example is an inspiration. God bless you! Keep up the good work!
i say thank you, for being gentle, for giving those who may feel like they don't know what is real and what isn't, the essentials that puts the foundation of the gospel solidly under their feet.....
That’s the goal! Share if you know someone 👍🏼
I left a NAR+WoF church two years ago that I had been in for four years and I am still on the journey of getting back to my original beliefs that I had before I entered that church and untangling myself from what I learned there. God is good, and I’m so grateful to Him for opening my eyes and helping me to step away from that movement. Thanks for making this video, I think this info is very needed.
Praying for you 🙏🏼
Same !
My husband and I haven't been to one in years, and I still find myself deciphering right and wrong theology. I totally get it.
Jesse- I've noticed when talking to the people from the "cult" that I was in for years, thatI one of the biggest barriers to them retaining their faith and not turning to atheism, is their confidence to find a church, how and who to trust, how can I trust myself because I screwed up last time, and where and how do I find one- I don't know what to believe. I understand that part of that walk is their effort to search, however, it is overwhelming to them to even start. - Thanks for bringing this up👍
Thansk!
Lord, I pray this message reaches they hearts and minds of those who need to hear it most. Reach their hearts Lord, soften their hearts to hear the truth in this message. In Jesus name x
"Questions should lead to answers that edify our faith" what an awesome quote because it is generally applicable. I'll use this from now on
Thanks 🙏🏼
I so appreciate your heart, Jesse. I'm a former Last Days Intensive Christian Training School student, much like YWAM and Bethel. It took a good two decades at least to relearn my theology. Sometimes it still pops up and I have to deal with the old lies again. Just keep going, brother , you are doing a good work, and it's affecting people more than you know. Thank you.
Thank you 🙏🏼
Jesse, I found your interview with TheMessedUpChurch a few days ago. I've known Bethel is a false church for years now, and have tried to warn fellow Christians. I finally found a church that I thought was Bible based but over the past few years have seen new age seeping into their thinking. Last Sunday, I found out that John Wilds and his worship team will be leading a night of worship at my church and I'm sick to my stomach. I won't serve two Masters, so I will no longer be involved with that church. My heart is broken but I trust in our Heavenly Father & pray that my church family would find discernment in these matters. God bless you for speaking out.
Thank you 🙏🏼
It's not just Bethel I was part of a Pentecostal organisation up until 2001 where prophecy directed people to uproot families , marry people etc etc.
I did go through a period of bitterness as directive prophecy affected ne quite badly esp in regards to my mental health . Whether some prophecies were false or not I don't know. What I did realise regardless of the practices I saw God was faithful and people are flawed and at times badly flawed. It was the faithfulness of God that has brought me through everything.
Many have turned away for various reasons and that is very sad but keep your eyes on Jesus . He is the author and finisher of your faith. He doesn't always taken pain away but he walks with us through the struggle.
Great message my brother!! God bless you and your family 🙏🏼❤️✝️
Same to you!
Thank God you came out of there!!!
I’m happy to hear you are studying reformed theology.
I came out of NAR too.
I didn’t know that it was false doctrine.
Praying that others will see the truth too.
Lord Jesus help!
🙌🏼🙌🏼
I have been on my own journey from Bethel (never went but was enamored by everything Bethel). I am the worship leader at my congregation and the leader at my congregation has helped here and there but has always been aware of my condition. At times I’ve been sat down from serving as worship leader, even though that has left the congregation without one for quite some time. I’m back now though. Waking up to Bethel’s condition was definitely a rude awakening. One sermon that really helped me and continues to help me is Ten Shekels and a Shirt by Paris Redhead. It is an old sermon, but it was incredibly eye opening. I highly recommend it and I hope it aids you as well. Christianity as a whole (in America at least) has been infiltrated with false doctrine and a false gospel that goes back decades if not longer than that. I hope you give it a listen.
“May the Lamb who has been slain receive the reward of His suffering!”
Greatings from Swizerland.❤
Jesse keep up the good work. The truth needs to come forth. I grew up in a Christian home. I was exposed to the various Charismatic movements. Family members got involved with Bethel and I was caught up into it from hearing all the great signs and wonders. I started attending churches that had an affiliation with Bethel. I was going through some difficulties in my marriage and was desperate. I wanted to hear the prophetic for guidance and answers. I was totally unaware of the new age practices I was being introduced to. Several years ago I was working in Port Angeles. I went into a store in downtown Sequim and there was a sign that said Free Prayer. So I said why not. After the shop owners prayed for me they invited me to church. It was the church you came out of. I went there many times and even took my family. I attached some of the prophetic conferences there as well as some at other churches in the Seattle area. I was being mentored by a pastor who attended Bethel School. Long story short I started discovering and questioning much like you did. My eyes became open to things that didn’t line up with scripture. I was lacking a solid foundation of the Word. The more I read and understood the more my eyes were opened. I started a journey of studying apologetics and that has changed my world. I am so grateful to have not continued down the path of false teachings and false prophecies. As I once heard someone say “Abuse can feel like love. Starving people will eat anything “
That is so crazy that you were in port, Angeles and SEQUIM. That’s where I was a worship pastor for a couple years. When were you there?
@@faith_reframed I first went there in 2012 ish. . I live in Bellingham. My work would send me and I would often go to church when in the area. I also have friends who use to attend there. My last time was 2019. I think I still have a tshirt somewhere in my closet (IREV)
I still believe the gifts are for today, and unfortunately there has been a lot of spiritual abuse that has happened. A really good book that touches on this is “Surprised by the Power of the Spirit” by Jack Deere. A really good read ❤️🙏🏼
Jack Deere's story of moving from cessatist beliefs to experiencing the gifts are quite compelling. I would love to see Jesse talk to him, largely because he is a greek scholar and could explain things with much more depth than most Charismatic leaders could. Also, I agree with you. There are charlatans and abusive leaders in the charismatic movement, as there have been in basically any movement throughout church history.
@@johnstinson8526 Amen. I would love to see that as well with any questions Jesse might have and being able to go through the word with the greek! I know Remnant Radio has done some talks with him.
Early Pentecostals were cessationsists. The belief that the Apostolic gifts have continued since the time of the Apostles has only been since the 1970s. The original Pentecostals were restorationists. Believing that YHWH restored the gifts of the Apostles. The gifts of the Spirit still exists, the sign gifts of the Apostles don’t. The Bible is clear on that too.
Thank you for making this video. So grateful 🙏
My Bible study group has been listening to bethel music and we became convinced here in Ohio that something was really wrong. Some of our friends think we were being harsh or judging. Now more and more people are saying the same thing and people's eyes are being open. Praise God for leading you and so many away from this new age ungodly movement! Now, do you have a Playlist of worship music ?! 😄😄
Hey Jesse! Just saw you in the American Gospel: Spirit and Fire trailer. Looking forward to hearing what you have to say in that interview as well. Keep the God glorifying content coming!
Absolutely excellent brother! You nailed it! You literally put into words my experiences dead on! Including the things I had to focus on / re learn / emphasize
🙏🏼❤️🙏🏼
I like your prayer - humble grateful and hardworking! Also thank you for sharing the walk in the park vs mountain climbing analogy. These were good takeaways for me. God Bless you on your walk.
Thank you so much!
Just subscribed. Love your gentle Christlike spirit. Your critique is seasoned with grace and humility. I am Charismatic but I lean towards Reformed theology, after coming out of the Word Faith movement. I was also a huge fan of William Braham, Benny Hinn, T.D. Jakes and Rod Parsley. But the Holy Spirit moved me towards John Macarthur, Grudem, Calvin, Luther, Sproul, Packer and other Reformed teachers. I am enjoying your videos. Keep up the great work. The charismatic community desperately needs this godly reproof
Amen Amen bro ,🙏to everything you said and prayed. Yes it’s hard work to deconstruct well ingrained bad theology and renew our minds in the true Word. It’s intense and exhausting at times but like you said , sooooo worth it. To understand true freedom and peace in Christ. Thankyou for sharing your experience of it with us. Such an encouragement. Praying for you and your family.
I've been through the same th I g. I was on the worship team for a church that was an offshoot of Casey Treat's church. I began questioning things and eventually left the church. Although I lived 3 blocks away from the church nobody called or stopped by to ask me how I was doing. I went through a few years of wandering and seeking a good church. I eventually got lost and began drinking heavily. Finally, within the past two years I began watching videos of others earning about these "word of faith" churches. Then I bought a new Bible and began reading it again. Then I began looking for a Gospel-centered church. I eventually found a church where I've been going to regularly. Through all of the years I never lost my faith in Christ. GOD was there for me when I came back and asked forgiveness. If a church is not preaching the same Gospel that Paul preached, and they're waterproofing the next upcoming series, stay away and find a new church. We don't need to hear another series....we need to hear the Gosoel. Thanks for sharing your story. It helps me heal from what I went through. 🙏
Wow thank you so much 🙏🏼
This is almost my story exactly. I am so glad you found truth.
For me it was over 25 years since I had taken communion. GOD is so merciful and forgiving.
Hello, I have watched a few of your videos now as UA-cam suggested you because I am subscribed to Mike Winger. Very interesting stuff… I can see with the background you and your family have experienced with Bethel why you feel like you feel about all spiritual gifts. I grew up in a charismatic church in the 80’s and 90’s. I now attend a very middle ground nondenominational church that believes in the gifts of the spirit but it isn’t something you see much of regularly in services. So I would just like to share something that happened to me when I was 14. I was questioning God’s existence and prayed to God a very heart felt prayer telling God I felt like He didn’t hear me and I was talking to the air. I cried out to God… I asked Him to tell me His plan for my life. Two weeks later I went on a mission trip to Mexico with a bunch of people I didn’t know with a random youth group. During this trip there was a church service where there was an alter call and I went up. (This was very out of character for me. I never did these things) A man I did not know came behind me and started to pray and then said to me “You have been asking God this question” He then told me word for word what I said to God a couple of weeks before… I am not exaggerating at all…. He told me that God would show me what to do each step as I get there. Now this wasn’t the answer I was looking for but it completely didn’t matter. This encounter changed my life! I have never questioned God’s existence and I absolutely know He HEARS every word I speak to Him. This was indeed a miracle and to beat all I never told the man who spoke to me while praying. He had no idea the extent of what he shared with me. After this I didn’t seek more “words of knowledge” or “prophecy” This was simply God being God. So I guess why I am sharing this with you is because I want you to know God still uses real gifts of the spirit. It isn’t all fake. God bless you and your family❤️
"Questions are good. Don't be scared of questions. Questions should lead to answers that edify our faith."
Thank you so much for your work on this. Your analogy of the "walk in the park" vs. a "40 mile hike" really helps to clarify the issues.
Thanks so much for sharing this. I am having struggles coming away from Bethel teachings as well. It has been a real kick in the gut since last October and feeling very lost but thanks to you and the couple on messed up church channel, and Mike Winger I think I will make it. If only I could find the strength to get back to church. Please keep posting.
Blessings on your helping journey. I'm listening to all the same people as you, as well as Melissa Dougherty. You may enjoy her channel too.
@ yes I have found her too!
What a fantastic video. Thank you so much. I feel like this so my husband and I right now. When you said some of it is cringy I can so relate. Thank you for sharing your story!! It’s such an encouragement to me!
I recently found you, thank you for sharing your testimony. Thank you for making these videos. It's really important for people to hear the other side of Bethel. Many people don't know what goes on behind the door of BSSM and the church. I agree, people need to read their Bible and know the Gospel. It's easy to be decived if we're lacking in knowledge of the Scriptures. God bless!
What a beautiful exhortation. May I also be as gracious and compassionate with those who have lost their way. One day, it could be myself, God forbid. God bless your ministry as you continue to walk out your faith journey in Him, my brother 🙏🏾
New subscriber 🙋🏾♀️
My journey went from evangelical S. Baptist… to exploring calvinism and reformed theology (a lot of Tim Keller God rest his soul)… to eventually finding truth in catholicism. It is a huge challenge and a fair bit of work to wrestle with the idea that what you believe might be wrong. However, by the grace of God, He will be with you, and lead you to a deeper faith. It’s important to remember that God loves you, even if you are dead wrong in your theology, but He will help you if you ask Him.
No one gets injustice, those who believe Christ get mercy, those who refuse get justice. Noone gets INjustice. RC Sproul
( paraphrased)
Thank you, Mr. Westwood.
I'm watching your videos because I have been more concerned about Bethel and their teachings, and I want to hear from someone who was there and not just from people on the outside looking in. I want to understand how people get drawn in and how they come to overlook teaching that is not in keeping with Scripture. For a long time I defended Bethel as fellow believers in the body of Christ, and I accepted what the leaders publicly said about what was going on at Bethel. But those same leaders are now becoming more open about what are clearly New Age leanings. You are saying that your experience was of encouragement in those practices all along, so I want to hear your side of the story. And I came upon your video specifically when I watched Mike Winger's most recent video about Bethel. I have a high regard for Mike Winger's teaching.
Hey thank you so much. We will be unpacking more and more as we move forward in the series. Appreciate your support and feedback 🙏🏼
Thank you for your prayer at the end.
🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Bro I can fully relate to what you went through and are going through. Was in a Hyper-Charismatic church for 7 years, participated in lots of things that didn't feel right about, found scripture to back my experiences though I had to twist them to do so. But by the grace of God, I started to look at scripture with the concerns I always had and realized things were WAY off. Had many conversations with church leadership but nothing was resolved and I had to step down and walk away, was one of the hardest things I've had to do, felt like I lost family. Like you said I've almost had to rebuild my faith from the ground up. It has been a hard journey. Thank you for this video may I have the courage to sent it to friends still deep in this movement. God bless brother!
Great chat Jesse, I recently came out of a very charismatic bethel influenced church. The two pastors were heavily into bethel and I got caught up in it all myself and was involved in music ministry and worship leading until I started to question some things during the 2020/2021 lockdowns and that didn’t go down too well 😢
Walking away was like losing my family and it still hurts my heart at times. And it’s caused me to question everything about Christianity but my faith in Jesus is still strong but I am weak. We can not find a good church in our area and I am very confused by all the different denominations and differences in theology 😔
We are in Australia 🇦🇺
God is taking me on the same journey.
I was a GSSM student and intern.
The Lord is having me heavily study scripture and seeing the faults in my former beliefs.
I am steadfast in the faith, currently a missionary, still believing in healing and prophecy, but I have a guarded heart now and take the "prophetic words" to scripture and pray for healing regardless of results.
Thanks for the video.
Praying for ya brother 🙏🏼
@The Westwoods I receive it, man. As you know, it's super challenging. I went from a non-believer to being saved in the Anglican church to finding global.
That's where all my theology came from and all my beliefs of the gifts.
Do you have any pastors or teachers you recommend listening to?
A good place to start is Vodi, Baucham, Paul, washer, RC, Sproul, and Alistair Begg is one of my favorite. Also, a great book to start with is fundamentals of the faith by John MacArthur. I personally am not a Calvinist, even though he is, the book is incredibly good at helping you establish a strong foundation. Can’t recommend enough.
@@richardsmith356 I have some recommendations. Paul Washer, Voddie Bauchem, John MacArthur, Steve Lawson, Alistair Begg, Bob DeWaay Anthony Rogers, Matthew Everhardt, Bryan Wolfmueller, and Johnathan Fisk.
Thanks, guys, for all the recommendations.
I will for sure be checking them out.
Much love!
Thank you for the work your doing. I came out of a Vineyard church that was doing a lot of BSSM stuff. I stumbled upon Reformed Theology when visiting Holland MI and my eyes began to open! I’m now attending a Reformed church in my city (which wasn’t easy to find) and I’ve had to relearn how to pray and read the Bible but Oh what a wonderful journey!! 💕
Praise the Lord sis that’s amazing
Thank you for this video. I appreciate your humble demeanor and your message.
Went through this as well, not in as deep, but started studying evangelical theology, and started questioning everything. As you say, studying God's attributes and the Gospel 🤗. 😊Can't find a good church though. Thank you for sharing your experience. Bless you brother
🇹🇹 Thanks for your vids, just watched a whole bunch of them after it was suggested to me since I follow Mr. Winger. The things you said were very familiar to me as the church I used to go to uses some techniques you outlined word for word. I always found it strange that they were trying to teach prophecy, I mean how do you teach a gift either you have it or you don't, and if you want it you pray to the dispenser of such gifts. I long to see the day when the body of Christ does "greater things" than He did as He promised we would when He was here, and I believe that miracles are happening today. But I also believe that our goal is to fulfil our purpose which is to love people, share the gospel and grow in right relationship with Jesus. Be encouraged brother, keep doing what you are doing. God bless you and your family ❤🔥
I’d be so curious on your thoughts on why the Gospel is not very grasped in some Bethel circles, despite some Bethel worship songs that seem to be very biblically sound??
For example the song “This is Amazing Grace” by Jeremy Riddle is really biblical and good. So I’m very curious why you think there is a disconnect between the theology in their songs and the theology at BSSM? I wonder why BSSM theology is so different from the theology that their songs portray. It seems like their songs are theologically decent. Since you were involved in their worship/production circles, I would be very interested in your insight on that
You are Brave to give these talks. Keep growing Strong in JESUS and Dont Quit!!!🥰
Former IHOPper here. 🙋🏻♀️ Keep it up, brother. Grace. 🤙🏽
I spent two months there back in 2009. When did you go?
@The Westwoods I was probably there at the same time you were....but I was on the floor most of that year.
Thanks Jessie. Please retain your gentle and humble stance , and for your sharing of your time with Bethel. We must pray for our brothers and sisters caught up in this movement…….I like Mike Winger’s attitude too. I have been caught up into Word of Faith teaching too, and gradually having to extricate myself from one of these churches after 10 years.
I genuinely love the pastor and his wife and many of my friends are there…….it is a real grief I have endured during the past few years.
My questions were never answered to my satisfaction….in fact, questioning is not encouraged, is seen as rebellion…….looking for a church to attend at present. Some of the people who have come out of Bethel are not gracious in their criticism……laughing openly and almost prideful…….please pray for them as well……
Thank you 🙏🏼
Thank you for doing this. There is so much in what you are describing that crosses over to other Christian groups involved in new age and cult-like practices.
Could you do some videos on prayer? I really need it as I'm getting out of
Bethel-like praying. Thank you!
As an agnostic that's taking a very hard look at Christianity (after a string of crazy experiences over the last 6 months that I really can't explain) I'm really happy I found you and your channel. Some of the stuff I went through had me seeking out people who had experience with that sort of thing... Which naturally lead to Bethel alumni. After digging into it, something kind of just felt a bit off. After finding your commentary on Mike Winger's video, your Breaking Bethel series helped make sense of the inconsistencies I saw. Like someone else quoted, "questions should lead to answers that edit your faith". So thank you for answering a bunch of mine.
I have a question for you though, if you don't mind sharing: During your year or so of atheism, what was it that lead you back to re-explore your faith? Was it an inclination to believe? Or was there something else you experienced that brought you back?
Hay brother, my wife and I also walked away from the charismatic church where I was also one of the worship leaders. It’s been about three years for us as well. For me, the hardest part has been wanting to make sure that my worship is pure and authentic since leaving that church. This thought still makes it hard for me to pick up my guitar and worship at home by myself.
Luckily we never lost our faith in Jesus, we just wanted to know what true Christianity looked like. So we just took some time to better know and understand what our bibles really said and that has help so much.
We live in OKC now and have found an amazing church here called Henderson Hills if anyone is in this area looking for a sold church. As a matter of fact, last sundays message was in Titus about the dangers of false teaches.
Anyway…keep up the good work your doing here! 🤙
Wow brother. Thanks for sharing 🙏🏼
My whole life was rooted in Charismania and only in the last couple years have I realized the many lies. However, as a worshipper that believed my purpose was helping people better connect with and feel God, I don’t know what to do now and I question whether I have ever known the true Jesus based on fruit in my life. I’ve also been constantly saying repentance prayers that feel very heartfelt but not seeing true change….ever learning, but never coming to the knowledge of truth maybe. So I’ve been miserably questioning my salvation since 2019. In addition, I always thought the pattern for sharing Jesus was the message accompanied with Holy Spirit, so I don’t know how to move forward with great commission because I still feel strongly that just talking is useless for this generation. Thus, I feel like I have lost my way, maybe what I thought was God in my worship moving people was emotionalism, and I don’t know how to move forward. I welcome any thoughts or insights you might have.
Brother, this is EXACTLY how we felt. There is hope. Email me but I will be doing more content going through stuff like this. Please don’t lose your faith, please hold on. Buy the book “fundamentals of the faith” by John MacArthur. I am not even a Calvinist, but it’s just a great book for getting your foundation of faith put back together. He goes over the purpose of the Bible, why it was written, and so many other things that does help you establish a strong foundation. If you can’t afford it, let me know. Thewestwoodhome@gmail.com
I'm a pastor at a small church. In our small town, we have a Bethel associated church, with the leadership primarily coming from the Supernatural School. I have struggled with what to do when speaking about the church and movement. The pastor is a nice guy, but we are seeing more and more of the Bethel direction in his teaching and work in the community. Right now, they are the church drawing many of the young families in our community. I have not wanted to be negative and be seen as being jealous because of their reach, but if this is toxic theology, how do we best approach this in grace. I am praying that there will be key people in their congregation who have their eyes opened to the heresy and seek to remove themself from that environment.
You need to get on Apologia’s show Cultish. They’ve done one on Bethel, but having your perspective on it would be great. God bless you brother.
Looking for a good solid church in Chattanooga, Tn!!! I hope u can help!!! We are moving … my hubby is a pastor and so worn out with charismatic movt… the music, ugh… Ty for taking so much time for us
I am not familiar with Chattanooga. But I am familiar with Lutheran Church Missouri Synod [LCMS]. First Lutheran Church seems vibrant. Go to an LCMS church and hear the Word. The simple gospel. By grace alone through faith.alone in Christ alone.
Can you do a reaction video of Justin Peter's latest upload pertaining Bethel? I want to hear your insights... God bless
Great video Brother. Testify! Keep doing the Lord’s work and speaking truth.
Thank you, I will
I was a believer in William Branham as a prophet. I know you've heard of him, because he is revered in Bethel-ish circles. He was an absolute heretic, false teacher, and deceiving false prophet. Many who leave him leave God altogether, because they never really knew Him. Thank God for His grace and mercy forgiving me and saving me from this!
What you do is SO needed. I am praying it draws many out of these false belief systems and into a real relationship with Jesus Christ.
Thank you 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
I appreciate the gentleness and humility of this presentation. I'm still a full-on charismatic, but I'm willing to listen to and consider other viewpoints that are presented in love. God bless you, and may He reward your faithfulness.
Hello from Terrebonne, Quebec, Canada
I was in a word of faith movement for 21 years.
I thank God that He made me come out of that movement.
It was an evangelical church in Montreal at MCI Canada, with Alberto Carbone et Manon Carbone.
They were pastors of the church and also each one of them had a group of 12 who also became pastors.
So we had 12 pastors men and 12 pastors women.
Thank God He opened my eyes about this and many falses teachings, false doctrines.
It's because of programs like your channel also Justin Peters, John MacArthur, voodie Baucham, Ken Ham, Long for truth with Daniel and Robin Long...
The pastor senior of the church give many times propheties to the church or us.
That was wrong, that was not from God.
They also teach about the word of faith...prosperity.
Cannot say negatif things because it could happen to us or you could attract negatif things in your life.
They ointed people in the church with supposedely holly oil.
They are imposing to give you the baptism of the Holly Spirit to.
I didn't feel good anymore in this church and I had so many questions about their doing and their teachings, their association with Hillsong for their songs and their pastors Brian and Bobbie Houston camemany times to our church for week-end conventions.
They are imposing their hands to people to heal them or to pray somethings in their lifes.
I've payed my 10 percent of my social security money every month.
I stopped few years ago to give them money. And it's going to 5 years now that I get out of there.
Thank God.
So I watch preachings on UA-cam like, John MacArthur, Voodie Baucham, and your channel to learn many truths written in the Bible.
Thank God for your testimony,
Good berean!!!!!!!! They mock that. And they mock anybody who points out inaccuracies in newer translations of the Bible as well....
I appreciate your perspective. I’ve been in a very similar boat. Only I actually came out of the Reformed camp where they prided themselves in their theology, but was absent of life and sprit. Several years ago I moved myself and my family to Redding and now attending Bethel, hungry for believers looking for the power to their faith. While Bethel isn’t perfect, find a church that is. Having now worked with many of the Senior leaders I can tell you one thing, and that’s that they genuinely have a heart for going after Jesus. If you haven’t already checked out the series “rediscovering Bethel” it’s a must watch. They cover it all.
I was at IHOPKC from 08-12, and was apart of the awakening. It was awesome at the time.....but I came to the conclusion that all of their prophetic history is bunk. Now I'm happily catholic.
Thank you for doing this! So helpful!
I never went to Bethel, or attended a Bethel church. But I attended a Rehma church (very similar theology, kinda like sisters) for all my teen years. Watching this touches all the feels. I understand this deep down.
Thanks 🙏🏼
"Being a worship leader as an atheist". That made me laugh. I've been there. Bethel music is wonderful though. As humans, we are all just seeing through a glass darkly. Gotta keep going! God bless you, man.
I tried to go to BSSM three times. Every time they referred me to BSSD.
It was overall fun and also terrible when we left. Looking back, the entire time I questioned so much of what was going on. And something just felt off. I asked a lot of questions and was silenced a lot. By the time we decided to leave, Leadership in Eureka was falling apart and for some reason Redding never worked out for me.
The best thing I got there was meeting my amazing husband- and exposure to professional level music standards. I grew a ton as a musician.
When we left, I went through a massive period of deconstruction and never wanted to lead or play in worship bands ever again. I didn’t understand the point. Sick of the show. I hated church and the machine of ministry. And I saw through shallow leaders.
But by Gods grace the last two years I have rebuilt and reconstructed my faith in the Lord has rocked my world. God is so good. My husband walked through it with me and as a result we have grown deeper and stronger in our faith.
We struggle with what to do in church now but we are in a community now that we serve in that’s messy, but are my husbands old friends. They are good people but there’s a lot of weird stuff. Also, we know where we stand and are committed to relationship and feel called here.
It’s all a work in progress as we work out our faith.
Thank you for your videos. I’m so encouraged by you
2Cor 1: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
5 For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.fn
6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.
Similar to my story, in that i discovered Durbin & co and the gospel suddenly presented itself, and things I'd taken issue with in my charismatic background were shed
Just watched your Mike Winger reaction video and then this. Please don't stop. It is so refreshing to hear that there are people that come out of that theology who were so emphatic and apart of it. There are many out there who think they believe in and love Christ but are so mislead, I just pray the Lord will open those peoples hearts like he has for you.
Steve Lawson has a great study called the Attributes of God that I found super helpful and edifying.
Don’t give up on your career bro. Just song write true theology. Love ya man
🙏🏼❤️🙏🏼
Yes agreed, we need good biblical Christian music!
Love this VIDEO
❤️❤️❤️
Hello! Wondering if you know anything about Jesus Image school in Florida? I have a friend there and concerned about what they teach
I didn’t grow up in Bethal, but I grew up in the Vineyard, which is a charismatic church founded by John Wimber, who was influenced by Bill Johnson. I don’t believe that a ton of new age theology was taught at our church, but we believed in praying healing in the name of Jesus and if you prayed for God to give you a picture in your head, that he would. So pretty much, I thought God gave me stuff that probably came from my mind. Instead of seeking the Word, I always prayed for God to give me a sign or a word about major life decisions. What car should I buy? Should I marry this particular girl? My theology wasn’t fully grounded in the word and was more grounded in experiences and trying to determine voices in my head. And that caused me to distance myself from God for a few years. But God kept tugging at my heart to come back to Him. Now, I’m pursuing the Bible and trying to see my experiences through a biblical lens.
I can’t read fast enough to understand the (seemingly) 5 second pop-up texts 😅 Anyway, so glad you’re doing these videos!
My friend's son has been going to a Bethel following church. He recently told everyone that he has now been fully baptized with the Holy Spirit. He does seem 'different' but in a lovey dovey, carefree, super chilled kind of way. Recently he had an opportunity to chat about his new found experience with one of his university tutors. He said they talked about God, faith, Jesus and even about the need for repentance. The teacher wants to go along to my friend's son's Bethel type church. My friend is very aware of the new age practices and the 'watered down gospel' and she is obviously concerned about all of this. It's confusing to us- it all looks like the real thing but its just not sitting right. How does one deal with this dilemma? Is it real? Is it clever counterfeit?
Yes! Questions are good. But they are often not allowed. Sadly. Also they are waiting for some great revival before the end, which is not biblical. They avoid the book of revelation. It's like they're scared of the revealing of Christ... And since this great revival hasn't happened the end cannot be near. According to them. Just interesting...
Praying for those who I know that walked away from their faith completely too. They saw greed. Now they don’t trust anyone.
Sad 😞
And learn about God’s providence and sovereignty. We are not speaking our futures into existence. We are not cursed with a curse as Christian. The testing of our faith brings about perseverance; trials do not equal curses. God loves you. He is in control. He does not make us find Him; He found us. There are no secrets. The Bible is not full of allegory. It is open and can be understood by anyone.
Thank God I left my church and did not join the prophetic team. Sad....
Before I became a Christian, I was dating someone who I perceived to be Christian. She used to push me to go to church with her. It was always to revivals at charismatic churches. I think that’s the only time she went to church. Even as an atheist I still knew what I saw in these Pentecostal churches was wrong. Nothing made sense. People falling down, running around the church like their pants were on fire, making lots of weird noises (later I found out this was tongues.) Some time later I became a Christian and realized from reading the Bible for the first time that those churches were whacked. When I became saved I devoted so much time studying scripture. I could not get enough. I ended up losing my job because I could not stop reading the Bible.
I lived in Atlanta, GA at the time. I had a lot of Pentecostals coming at me. Arguing with me and giving me their books to read. One book I read I only read a few chapters and threw the book away. Didn’t even give it back to the person who gave it to me. The stuff in the book was so incredible I knew it was unbiblical. Like, YHWH blasting a pulpit apart inside a church while a pastor was behind it and throwing him back and unconscious. People falling down in the doorway of the church screaming in agony until they submitted to YHWH. The author even made an incredulous statement, imaging what could have happened if the Holy Spirit could have got out of that church. That’s when I threw the book away. The pastor of one of those churches sat with me and we had a discussion, him trying to convince me of Pentecostalism, when we finished the only thing he said was, you really know your bible. I had only been a believer for a couple months.
I always prayed that YHWH would keep me from false teachings. And He has. From the moment I believed I’ve had great discernment. I’m not saying I never had false beliefs and didn’t have to grow or study hard to understand stuff. I thank YHWH for keeping me from these false religions and false Christs.
It is super important to understand what you believe.
If you believe that Jesus is your Savior you gotta be able to explain what he saved you from. As the body of Christ we should be mainly focused on this one truth wich is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No matter where you are, what church you are going to or what denomination you are, make sure that you’re deeply rooted in the Word. The same way, the Bible explains us the Gospel it talks about the holy spirit, and we can not choose and pick from the Word what we like or dislike.
Let’s love one another - don’t let anger, disappointment or a judging attitude get in the way between you and God
Very good balanced advice 👌
Glad it was helpful!
Awesome video and spot on!! New subscriber and 👍 for video!! Thanks
I'm so glad that you have been sent as our super humble spiritual leader to tell us how we have been wrong and how you have gotten to the top of the mountain and know what is right. Thank you for your superior knowledge to let us know what the real "truth" is. I'm so glad you are all right and that none of this came out of your hurt because of some wrong prophetic words. I'm so glad you listened when they talked about how to handle prophetic words and you didn't put all your faith in those words instead of God. Oh wait...
Thanks - was trying to work out what is wrong with Bethel as had feeling ‘worship’ there is not truly worship!
From your mouth to Bethel's ear.
I LOVE JEFF DURBIN! His God's sovereignty and Judas changed my understanding of what I had actually believed my whole life!
YOU CAN'T GO WRONG WITH R C SPROUL EITHER!!!
"Rather than putting ourselves in the text, put Jesus in the text." - Good word. I would also add, "Find" Jesus in the text; all the text, not just the New Testament.
What a WONDERFUL ministry!
How do you understand I Thess 5:20, "Do not despise prophecies..."? Is it possible that Paul wrote this exactly for the experiences that you've described?
Amen brother....
Thanks for truth!
Always!
Can you do a video on JH Ranch? Is Bethel all over that place?
Jesse, I take issue with a lot in your videos, but I think this is one of your better ones. You're not the only person I've encountered who has been disillusioned with the charismatic church, and it's quite common. Though I would say that disillusionment with church at large is also very common and people are leaving all churches quite rapidly. It's not surprising to me that more and more people will leave the church for various reasons, and I expect that without something major happening such as a revival those numbers will continue to decline. (I mean revival in the historical sense where entire communities turn back to God, and not as it's used in the Charismatic Movement to mean an outbreak of signs and wonders and the presence of God, though I do believe that is valuable). I'm genuinely glad to hear that you haven't lost your faith.
That said, I have a few questions for you:
1. Why did you continue to lead worship for so long after becoming an Atheist? Didn't that feel disingenuous? It seems like the same core issue you had when you applied to Bethel, but in a different context. Can you speak into this?
2. What restored your faith? If you threw it all out, what led you back? It had to be more than just theology.
3. You've stated in the comments before that you're an Anabaptist Mennonite. If you study their history it's well documented that they were founded in Charismatic experiences, some which would make people at Bethel balk (I read about a nude parade... haven't confirmed). How do you follow a denomination that was founded in Charismatic manifestations?
Hey thanks for the feedback!
1. I gave the church I was serving at 9 month notice so they could find a replacement. I stopped taking a pay check to free up the church funds was simply giving them time to find a replacement
2. A Jordan Peterson quote-“I choose to live my life in such a way where there is a god to be held accountable to.” That gave me enough faith to step out of atheism into some sort of deist belief. That’s when I reproached Christianity.
3. I have been doing a lot of homework on the Anabaptist movement and I haven’t seen anything about charismatic events starting it. They are called anabaptist for new baptism. Adult baptism not pedobsptism. Martin Luther drowned one of the first as a response and the other founder was a former catholic monk that thought Luther didn’t reform enough.
@@faith_reframed Thanks for the reply.
1. Are you saying they let you lead worship for 9 months knowing you were an atheist? That's crazy for any church.
2. It's been really incredible to see JP's journey of faith. I'm glad his journey impacted yours.
3. Look up their Wikipedia article for starters. There are also several articles online where scholars detail the Charismatic aspects of their faith before they split over it down the road. But if I read the dates correctly, there were charismatic manifestations before they officially broke off from Zwinglianism. I understand part of the persecution came from their theology on the 2nd baptism and their refusal to join state churches, but it was also due to charismatic manifestations.
@@johnstinson8526 1. They didn’t know. I kept it from them so I wouldn’t stir the pot and try to keep the church moving forward without causing a huge stir
2. Love JP
3. Yea I’ll look into it. Either way the early reformers all have messed. From anti semitism to murders. The church I am in does not believe in gifts for today (the whole conference doesn’t) presents a full gospel, and has great leadership/accountability/discipleship
@@faith_reframed 1. If you did it over again, would you do the same thing (stick it out as a worship leader as an atheist)? I'd actually be interested in hearing your story prior to Bethel. From your first video it sounded like getting in was a really big deal to you. Were you thinking BSSM might help you get past some of the things you were hiding when you arrived?
3. This is true, the reformers showed themselves to be just as diabolical as the churches they split away from. Interestingly, the Huguenots, the Moravians, the Quakers, the Holiness Church, and Methodists experienced similar things and were persecuted for them. The thing is, charismatic experiences are documented throughout church history. Many of the denominations that now denounce charismatic manifestations were founded in them. In the 1960s several mainline denominations experienced charismatic manifestations.
I'm sure you go to an excellent church, and I mean that sincerely. Even if your theology doesn't line up with mine, to me there's more than enough room in the body of Christ for multiple schools of thought/experience. I personally don't 100% line up with everything said and done at Bethel, but I haven't heard them once preach a false gospel. If nothing else, they seem to fall in line with much of church history.