Phil Wickham – Living Hope

Amy

Hi Steve! Thanks so much for taking the time to reply to my comment, and for doing some research on Bill Johnson’s teaching. I hope you’ll take even more time to look into it. I definitely did not present a full case in my comment due to brevity concerns, and l agree with you that these type of comment forums are likely not the best place for these types of conversations. If I may, I’d love to take a step back from the “debate” and just share a little bit of personal background on what led to my current conviction on this topic, because, honestly, just a couple of months ago I would have agreed wholeheartedly with you. My playlist used to be filled with Bethel music.

This past fall God brought a new friend info my life who is a follower of Bill Johnson, and who attended a Bethel school. I thought nothing of it at first, but the more time we spent together, the more it became clear that something was off…she did not espouse orthodox Christian beliefs, but rather some form of New Age mysticism in which signs, wonders, and miracles are paramount in a “triune gospel.” She told me that Jesus didn’t “only” die to save us from our sins, but also so that we can prosper financially and physically here on earth- that “we will create heaven on earth” by conquering the 7 “mountains” of society and usher in Christ’s return. Now I won’t claim any theological expertise, but I have been been a follower of Christ, a reader of the Bible, and an attender of Baptist and non-denominational Christian churches for 40 years, and I had never heard this theology before.

In an effort to understand what she was talking about, I began listening to Bill Johnson’s sermons and reading his books. I started browsing Bethel’s social media and watching videos of their services. I spent several weeks and dozens of hours diving into their content, and what I found was anything but biblical. They may give some lip service to a orthodox Christian doctrine on their website’s “About” page, but if you look under the hood, it’s nothing but. The Kenosis heresy I pointed out in my reply is just one of many teachings that are used in conjunction with one another to weave and entirely new gospel message. For example, the teaching I pointed out in my comment to you (ie “it’s vital to note that He [Jesus] did all His miracles as a man, and not as God”) is used (by Johnson and Valloton) to make the case that we are all capable of doing what Jesus did. This little “g” gods doctrine is a huge part of what they teach- that we can and should all be speaking things into existence, raising the dead, calming storms, and healing the sick…not asking God to heal the sick, but healing the sick ourselves, because, as Johnson teaches, God wills to heal 100% of the time. In their view, we hold the power. Kris Valloton posted on his Instagram a few weeks ago “Prayer is an act of leadership as it authorizes God to do His will on our planet.” This is why Bethel held 6 nights of worship services in December when the toddler daughter of one of their worship leaders passed away unexpectedly. I watched the service live streams and read through thousands of comments from Bethel followers worldwide. They weren’t petitioning God, in His sovereign will and omnipotence, to resurrect her…they were commanding the girl to rise, and declaring that she would.

The little “g” gods doctrine feeds into a massive emphasis on signs, wonders & miracles, and an open embrace of mysticism. Johnson wrote in The Physics of Heaven, “Jonathan Edwards, the legendary 18th century minister once said, ‘A work of God without stumbling blocks is never to be expected.’ I believe that a great work of God is in process as He restores knowledge and insights that have been lost to Christians, but are now hidden in the teachings and practices of Quantum Mysticism.” In the same book, co-contributor Jonathan Welton writes, “I have found throughout Scripture at least 75 examples of things that the New Age has counterfeited, such as having a spirit guide, trances, meditation, auras, power objects, clairvoyance, clairaudience, and more. These actually belong to the church, but they have been stolen and cleverly repackaged.” This is terrifying.

The Law of Attraction (speaking things into existence) is a major theme in Bethel’s teaching, though they don’t call it that. It’s part of the power they allege we possess as a result of Christ crucified. Alongside this is a re-branded Prosperity gospel. Take a look at their offertory readings (bethel.com/offering-readings/). You’ll see line after line of declaring high-paying jobs, checks in the mail, favorable settlements…”That as I join my value system to Yours, You will shower favor, blessings and increase upon me.” My friend’s young daughter has a poster of one of these offering readings on her bedroom wall that reads,

“I am powerful
And what I believe changes the world
So today I declare

God is in a good mood
He loves me all the time
Nothing can separate me from His love
Jesus’ blood paid for everything
I will tell nations of what He has done

I am important
How He made me is amazing
I was designed for worship
My mouth establishes praise to silence the enemy
Everywhere I go becomes a perfect-health zone”

Some of this is true, of course- like God’s love for us, and that we are designed for worship, but once you’ve really dug into their teachings, you understand that when they say “Jesus’ blood paid for everything,” they mean that Jesus paid for us to get a promotion at work, and to be able tell our headaches to go away, and to “experience God” through things like “angel visitations” and “divine manifestations” (if you dare, watch one of Bethel’s regular teachers, Heidi Baker, slurring and falling down on stage during a Bethel service, “drunk” on some spirit). Or watch footage from Randy Clark’s visit to Bethel last month. The camera pans across the crowd showing of hundreds of people violently convulsing and shaking, screaming, moaning, rolling around on the floor.

This is not the Gospel, and this is not the fruit of the Spirit. This is demonic. I’m so sorry, Vince, for kinda going off the rails in the comment section, but I’m so incredibly grieved and alarmed at all of this…it’s hard to stay silent now. Thanks again, both of you, for your willingness to engage in discussion. We really need that. I do pray that you will look more deeply into the Bethel movement and consider these concerns that I and many others share.