Polemic Apologetic Articles
Brownsville False Prophecy
The King James Only Controversy
What is the best Bible translation?
The condemnation of The Trinity Broadcasting Network
Brownsville continues outlandish aberrations

False Prophecy of Brownsville Revival by John Kilpatrick

"I want to say something this morning to Hank Hanegraaff. Hank Hanegraaff, you may feel like that you can put on the badge of heaven and put on your white cap and saddle up on your big horse and ride through the kingdom of God straightening everybody out. But I don't know who called you to be the high sheriff of heaven and go around straightening everybody out. I don't know who did that. But I'm going to tell you one thing. You may criticize other people and other moves of God and other ministries, but you'd better leave your hands off of this one! Better leave your hands off of this one. We're walking humbly before God. We're praying. Our lives are in order. Our finances are in order. Our families are in order. We're not in adultery and we're not in deception. We're only trying to manage and pastor a move of God. And Mr. Hanegraaff, I want to say to you, before you get back on national television and start spouting off at the mouth again about something of which you know nothing of, you'd better be careful, because God said, "Vengeance is Mine, saith the Lord." And I want to say something else to you. If you want to keep any kind of a semblance of a ministry, you better back off from this revival and what God is doing. You better back off, because I'm going to prophesy to you that if you don't, and you continue to put your tongue in your mouth on this move of God, within 90 days the Holy Ghost will bring you down. I said, within 90 days the Holy Ghost will bring you down. And I speak that as a man of God. I don't speak that out of vengeance, I don't speak it out of selfishness, and I don't speak it out of a hurt feeling, because my feelings are not hurt. I feel as normal today as I've ever felt. I don't have a chip on my shoulder, I don't have an ax to grind. But this is a move of God and you better leave it alone. And I want to tell you something else. If you don't want your head to start shaking - you make fun of somebody in the choir shaking. If you don't want your head to do like this, you better lay your mouth off of her. I know this girl. She's a godly girl. She's a school teacher, and she lives a godly life. Mr. Hanegraaff! I want to say something to you. Better walk a mile in another man's moccasins before you make a judgment on him. I want to say something else. Am I ashamed that I've got a woman in my choir that shakes like she's got palsy? Mr. Hanegraaff, let it be a lesson to you, and let the rest of the body of Christ learn a lesson this morning that God is at work and heaven has its hard hat on and God is doing a last day quick work before the soon-coming of His Son, Jesus Christ. And I think the last thing He needs is a distraction of ungodly people that call themselves Christians that can't do anything but murmur and complain and gripe. I tell you what I want to do before the trumpet sounds and before the Lord Jesus comes back. I want to have a repository built up in heaven in the ears of God where I praise Him through every trial and every difficulty and every season of tribulation. I want to close by giving ten proclamations about how things are going to be. Mr. Hanegraaff, and all other devils, listen up." (John Kilpatrick Prophecy Against Hank Hanegraaff and CRI, Brownsville Assembly of God, April 6, 1997). An observation is in order concerning the words of Kilpatrick. Notice that Kilpatrick says that Hank Hanegraaff of Christian Research Institute (CRI) would be "brought down" in "90 days" by the Holy Ghost. This word was given in April 1997 but Hank Hanegraaff and CRI have continued to operate as usual. Ironically, not only did nothing happen to Mr Hanegraaff, but soon after Kilpatrick was involved in an accident himself!

The King James Only Controversy by defend

The Bible is made up of 66 books which have met canonical status and are deemed to be inspired by God. The Church holds that the Bible in its original writings are free from error. These original writings which do not exist today are know as the 'autographs' or the 'autographa'. All we have today is copies of copies of copies. To say that any modern version (e.g., KJV) is the sole standard whereby we are to judge all other versions and translations (e.g. NASB, NIV, NKJV, NASV) would be heretical. The autographa alone is verbally inspired and without error.

Our second point is to state that the recent translations (NASV, NASB, NKJV, NIV) came about because of the discovery of manuscripts found in the 18th century and the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS hereafter) discovered in the 20th century (1967); manuscripts that were not available at the time the Authorized Version (KJV) was written. Of primary importance is that the DSS have been dated to be 1000 years older than the 10th century Masoretic text which produced the KJV. In other words, the KJV comes from copies that date to the 10th century A.D., while the NASV, NASB, NIV, and NKJV come from copies that date from 100 B.C.-200 A.D.

Of further importance, the DSS in the majority of places was closer to the Septuagant (CXX hereafter), than it was to the KJV. This authenticated the CXX which is a 400 B.C. Greek translation of the Old Testament. This led to the discovery of textual additions by the writers of the texts used for the KJV. Scribal insertions and more scribal errors crept in over the 1000 year difference between the translations. Scholars were amazed at the accuracy of the KJV over the years and maintain it as a great translation along with the now slightly more accurate NASV, NIV, NKJV, and NASB.

We are not to hold the KJV up as an autographa any more than we are to condemn the KJV because King James was a homosexual. The work is what is to be tested, not King James himself. Was the work properly and truthfully translated and can we trust it to be reliable? Yes we can. It has some additions (the KJV) by scribes who tried to help the Bible say more than it actually did in certain passages. In the modern versions, translated from copies dating 1000 years older than the KJV, these additions were once again taken out to closer match the copies of the 1st century B.C. and the CXX.

The New American Standard, the New Internetional Version, the New King James Version, and the King James Version are all great bibles that can be trusted for extreme accuracy.

Which Bible translation is best?

The four English translations used most widely by evangelical Christians are the King James Version (KJV), The New King James Version (NKJV), the New International Version (NIV), and the New American Standard Bible (NASB). The KJV is the oldest of the four and continues to be the favorite of many. It is known as the Authorized Version of 1611 because King James I approved the project to create an authoritative English Bible. Although it contains many obsolete words (some of which have changed in meaning), many people appreciate its dignity and majesty. The NKJV is a similar translation, taken from the same group of ancient manuscripts, that simply updates the archaic language of the KJV. The NIV was completed in 1978. Its translators did not attempt to translate strictly word for word, but aimed more for equivalent ideas. As a result, the NIV does not follow the exact wording of the original Greek and Hebrew texts as closely as the KJV and NASB versions do. Nevertheless, it can be considered a faithful translation of the original texts, and its lucid readability makes it quite popular, especially for devotional reading. The NASB, completed in 1971, is a revision of the American Standard Version of 1901. It is a literal translation from the Hebrew and Greek languages, making it a favorite for serious Bible study. Which version is the best to use? Ultimately, that choice needs to made by each person individually. Each of the versions have strengths and weaknesses, but they are all reliable translations of the Bible. Ideally, the serious student of Scripture should become familiar enough with concordances and word-study aids, so that even without a thorough knowledge of the original languages, he or she can explore some of the nuances of meaning that arise out of the original texts.
For further study: D.A. Carson, The King James Version Debate (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1979). James White, The King James Only Controversy (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1995).

The condemnation of the Trinity Broadcasting Network by defend

The Bible vehemently commands us in Jude to not let false teachers enter our houses or our churches and present their false teachings. We are to judge and test the Spirits and hold fast to that which is true. Anyone who does not follow the doctrine of the Apostles delivered unto them by Jesus and the Holy Spirit is cursed by the Bible.

TBN daily has false teachers and prophets who have undermined the Christian faith. Doctrines that have came directly from cults have been allowed over and over as TBN has failed and continues to fail everyday in protecting and safeguarding the precious truths of Jesus Christ. Men like T.D. Jakes who denies that Jesus Christ is an eternal Being. Jakes denies essential Christian doctrine and denies the Trinity. Jakes is a proponent of Sabbaelian Modalism, a cultic view of the nature of God.

Benny Hinn teaches daily on TBN and falsely prophesied that by 1996 all homosexuals in America would be destroyed by a great fire. Recently he said the Holy Spirit informed him that Jesus was going to appear physically in his crusade and that they would most likely have video footage to show the world. Hinn said people should not take their dead loved ones to funeral homes, rather he instructed his viewers to place the dead bodies in front of the television set while TBN was on and that they would be cured.

Jack Van Impe falsely prophesied that before 1976 the Russian flag would fly over Pennsylvania's Independence Hall. Van Impe is now predicting the return of Christ in 2006. Even Jesus did not know the time of His return in His humanity, yet Van Impe has the temerity to say he does know.

Kenneth Copeland, a long-time TBN favorite teaches that God is 6' 2" tall, and that when God created Adam, He created another God. This is an unbiblical and heretical as well as philosophically impossible. Copeland teahes a very unbiblical form of faith called word-faith, whereby man controls the universe with spoken words. This form of metaphysics comes straight from the cults and is vehemently blasphemous. Copeland teaches that Jesus Christ became a satanic being while on the cross, and then went to hell where he was eventually born-again.

These are some of the people that TBN has featured on its programs, most of them are daily. This ministry hereby condemns TBN as a 'heretic haven' for prostituting the Word of God. Not to forget the millions of dollars that TBN is taking from people who are desperate for answers, the elderly, and people who are easily led astray. TBN cohorts constantly teach 'seed-faith' theology, a give to get scheme. You give TBN $2000.00 and then God will heal you.

Gold fillings at the Brownsville Revival by Hank Hanegraaff

It has now been over two years since my book Counterfeit Revival documented the dangers of looking for God in all the wrong places. Sadly, leaders of the Counterfeit Revival have continued to employ sociopsychological manipulation tactics to trap new subjects into their dangerous web of subjectivism. No one is immune to the contagion of mass suggestion. Once this epidemic contaminates a movement, it can make black appear white, obscure realities, and enshrine absurdities. One of the newest absurdities is the phenomenon of gold-tooth fillings - that's right, gold fillings! "Fallings in the Spirit" may well have been eclipsed by "fillings in the Spirit." As one Counterfeit Revival devotee proclaims, "Have you heard? there's gold in Toronto!" She goes on to write: Wednesday night, before Dutch Sheets delivered a powerfully anointed message, there was a short video clip shown of John Arnott ministering in a South Africa meeting where people's teeth were being filled with gold. After the clip, John asked for anyone who wanted this miracle to stand and believe for it while touching the sides of their faces. After the prayer he asked that we check each others' mouths and about 10 people went forward, some yelling and all excited because they now had gold teeth and fillings which they did not previously have! So John let a couple testify and we prayed again, this time more people received the miracle. A third time of praying came as did more miracles!! IT WAS AWESOME!!! Then, at just about every meeting there was prayer for this miracle and every time there would be many who would discover their mouth filled with gold! Last count that I heard was over 198 people who were leaving the conference with some gold in their mouths! One woman who had been on welfare most of her childhood had 8 new gold teeth! Another woman had 4 gold teeth and/or fillings on Wednesday and by Saturday she had 11!! (I saw her at both stages of this miracle). One man had two beautiful, perfect, shiny, gold teeth and one of them had a cross engraved on it! The drummer of the worship team received gold teeth as did one of the pastors on staff there at TACF [Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship] and while officially collecting these testimonies from the saints, the man who was recording them received gold teeth as well! And on Saturday, the wonderful "gold dust" started showing up on people's hands and in their tears as they worshipped! A Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship official statement titled "GOLD TEETH!" reports that perhaps God was filling people's teeth with gold as "a sign and a wonder to expose the skepticism still in so many of us. The statement went on to say that "reports of people's fillings turning a bright silver or gold color are coming in from South Africa, Australia, England, Mexico and across Canada and the USA. The excitement at TACF is electric with news of how these dental miracles are so rapidly spreading." (This gives new meaning to Arnott's mantra: "Fill, fill, fill!") Even as reports of gold fillings are pouring in from the Counterfeit Revival leaders in Toronto, leaders at the Brownsville revival in Pensacola have begun citing resurrections from the dead. For $75 the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry will sell you a video series titled Faith to Raise the Dead. Brownsville leaders are claiming that evangelist David Hogan and his associate missionaries in Mexico have seen more than 200 raised from the dead. The expectations of people have reached such a fever pitch that some time ago a parent who lost a child put his baby on ice and drove 350 miles to the Brownsville Assembly of God to have the baby raised from the dead.5 To some, this father's actions may appear foolish. Yet, if God is indeed raising hundreds from the dead in Mexico, it would be perfectly logical to think that He would raise the dead in the church whose ongoing revival that is being touted as perhaps the greatest in the history of humanity. While Arnott and his associates are duping people with the gold-filling ruse, and while Hogan's heroes are heralding resurrections from the dead, Rodney Howard-Browne is attempting to make a comeback at Madison Square Garden in New York. With a dwindling following in Florida, Howard-Browne has come up with a new angle. It seems Rodney "had a dream from God," in which Billy Graham told him about a crusade Graham held in New York back in 1957. Rodney says that as he listened to Billy, he started weeping. Says Howard-Browne, "I wept so hard that when I woke up, my pillow was soaked with tears."8 The Holy Ghost allegedly told the self-designated "Holy Ghost Bartender" that he was to launch one of the biggest soul-winning crusades ever. Through a variety of techniques, including a Charisma magazine ad, Rodney now raises money and manpower for "Unlocking Heaven at the Garden." While at first blush the stories of Counterfeit Revival leaders may be amusing, the consequences of their fabrications, fantasies, and frauds are often tragic. The story of the parent who took his baby to Brownsville speaks for itself. Such stories as gold fillings can also have tragic repercussions. First, when followers finally catch on to the manipulations of revival leaders, they often become disillusioned and disenchanted. They no longer know what to believe or whom to trust and secretly fear that the untrustworthiness of those who claim to be God's representatives translates into the untrustworthiness of God Himself. Furthermore, these testimonies leave believers with a watered-down understanding of miracles that cheapens their appreciation of the biblical reality. We should ask ourselves why God isn't restoring teeth as opposed to merely filling cavities with gold. While gold and silver fillings might be a human solution to a decayed tooth, one would think that God would provide a solution without the possible side effects produced by placing metals in the mouth. In addition, when Christ healed the blind man in John 9, He didn't give him a super-duper pair of spectacles; He restored his sight. Likewise, when Jesus healed the paralytic in Luke 5, He did not give him a diamond-studded gold crutch. The difference between the "magic" of mental manipulations and genuine miracles is dramatic. As documented by Christian apologist Dr. Norman Geisler, when Jesus and the apostles healed people, the miracles were always 100 percent successful and immediate, and there were no relapses. Finally, the consequences of counterfeit miracles based on sociopsychological manipulation are often far reaching. The power of the Spirit can indeed create life and limb, but the power of suggestion creates only a lamentable lie. It is all too easy to make the masses believe the lie. It is often incredibly difficult to undo that work again.