
ARCHIVED NEWS REPORTS
News
Update
June/July
1997
Let
me start by repeating that hackneyed statement - "reports of my
death have been greatly exaggerated!!"
I'm
here! I'm alive and well and still living in Belper. My absence off the
public scene has led people to make speculations, and I hope to dispel
some of those here.
Number
one is that I remain just as committed to opposing false teaching as ever.
Secondly, my health - physical, emotional, mental and spiritual - is (as
Star Trek's Data would report) "functioning within normal parameters,
Cap'n". Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Thirdly,
although I made no specific mention of it in my final Mainstream circular,
the audio tapes are still available - indeed, you'll find a pared-down
list on these pages. (You still have to order in the normal way, though
- no e-mail tape requests if you please.)
Since
I ceased my regular publication of Mainstream, I have devoted my time
to other things, one of which has been this Web Site. The same reasoning
that applied to the rest of the ministry (see Banner headlines) was for
a moment applied to the web-site, but the Lord obviously had other plans,
at least for now.
For
the time being, the back-copies of Mainstream that you have all been asking
for, and articles on the subjects that interest you all so much, remain
available at this site.
I
also plan to include something like a monthly news update - but no promises!
In these uncertain times, we none of us know what is around the corner.
Indeed, there have been ongoing prophecies of a massive "new wave"
of deception gathering momentum. I'm going to say something about that
in a moment.
NEW
ARTICLES
For
the time being, most of the articles here are the same as before. Although
they remain relevant, it's my intention to add new files on various subjects
as they become available. Especially, I plan to produce some articles
on the Latter-Rain/Manifested Sons of God type doctrine, God willing.
Already
there are three recent additions:
- 1)
Larry Thomas has written two fine articles about the Brownsville, Pensacola
"revival" - don't miss them.
- 2)
Andrew Gould, known to some of you for the article on the Hebraic
Roots movement which I reprinted in Mainstream, has a new web-site
and new material for you to see. I have included his article, "Unholy
Alliances" here.
- 3)
I have covered the subject of music in the churches several times
since I began this ministry. Now I have compiled a number of important
quotations and statements showing exactly where modern worship music
is heading. You'll find the music article in the "other Subjects"
articles section.
THE
OUTCOME OF THE CROSSROADS ASSEMBLIES
The
November "Crossroads" assemblies seem a long way back
now, but day by day there is confirmation of their importance and their
message. I did not know (could not know at the time) that other ministries
had planned, also in November, to have high-level conferences and discussions
on the future. While we, as Remnant Christians, considered the changes
ahead for us, others were at the same time planning their strategies for
the future. I believe the two paths must increasingly divide and diverge.
I
have placed the written report of the November meetings on this
page for all those who have not yet seen them. Do be aware, however, that
the written reports are not complete in themselves because they only contain
material that is not on the audio tapes. To get the full picture of what
happened in November, you'd need to get both the set of six tapes (see
the tape order form) and the written report.
However,
the report gives a flavour of what God was telling us. Some scriptures
given there describe what occurred and what has happened since. They are:
Is
6: 9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand
not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Jer
6:17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of
the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
1
Kings 18:21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long
halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if
Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
Truly,
as God warned in November, there is a "dividing of the ways"
and those who refused to heed His word before Christmas will find it more
and more difficult to adjust their path as the months go by.
Is
it self, or God? Is it family, or God? Is it career, ministry, money,
security, popularity - or God?
A
SUBTLE DIVERSION
While
supposedly putting our all into church activities or even full-time ministry,
we can be replacing the pure love of God's will with a subtle version
of self, where the attractions of popularity and the prospects of worldly
success take over from finding out and doing what God says.
The
decisions we make, one by one, do not always seem important or significant.
They do not appear to make much difference to our overall walk - but a
series of decisions based upon the wrong premise will eventually lead
astray. A path may be millimetres away from the true path at the beginning
but as time goes by the gap widens and it ends up hundreds of miles from
the right path.
TWO
GROUPS
Now
I begin to see two distinct groups (not always obviously distinct!). Both
these groups are made up of believers who truly love God and who reject
false teachings. Many of these are now outside the conventional church
system.
One
group is the invisible Church, akin to Elijah's hidden 7000 who have not
bowed the knee to Baal. God knows each one by name. They are under incredible
pressure, because God is at work purging and establishing this group,
often using severe trials to push their commitment to the limit. They
are the despised, the forsaken, the outcasts whom God loves. When they
are drawn together by God, they discover that they already have a tremendous
spiritual unity. Often having been hurt by authoritarian churches - indeed,
often having been cast out of such churches - they are wary of "leadership"
and "systems" and have come into a revelation of the biblical
church as the Body of Christ, demonstrated by two's and three's gathering
together for informal worship and mutual support.
The
hallmark of this group is interdependence, personal discernment, allegiance
to scriptural truth, a firm desire to follow God's will above all, and
the knowledge that the work of God is being done in and through them as
individual stones in the living temple.
On
the other hand, there is an equally sincere group made up of believers
who fit into two inter-locking categories: the leaders and the led, to
put it simply. The leaders want to lead, and the led want to be led!!
Therein lies the problem.
LEADERSHIP
AND ITS PITFALLS
Leaders
and organised ministries depend on supporters, and any shaking of the
system threatens this set-up. Well, God is certainly shaking all things
today, and the reaction amongst some has been panic measures to shore
up the system. There are no doubt fine leaders unknown to me, and not
all are going astray - but let me focus on a few problem areas.
Some
leaders are out-and-out empire builders who try to keep tags on their
supporters, and develop guru status amongst them, so they can mould them
and keep them faithful to the ministry in question. Power and influence
(not to speak of financial support) are the keywords, and if any of these
are threatened, the leaders react by tightening the screws.
Other
leaders are entirely sincere in their Christian work and ministry, but
fail to see that it is God who promotes and God who demotes. Success or
failure in ministry is entirely a matter of obedience to God's will. If
that one fundamental requirement is overshadowed by the personality, preaching
abilities or ministry output of a person, and if those things become more
of a draw, more of a priority, than what God is saying and doing through
that person - then beware! That ministry is already on a slippery slope
downwards.
FALSE
FOUNDATIONS
God
is today gathering, purging, reorganising and revealing HIS BODY. While
I don't believe there is a conscious (evil) attempt in this country to
organise a counter-move to God's work, I do believe there are misguided
and foolish attempts to give God a helping hand! What I mean is the desire
to "organise" another Church structure that will create a charismatic
alternative to false teaching. Good idea - wrong motives! And wrong method!
This
idea is based on a false premise, and it is leading to dangerous conclusions.
One
false premise is that there will come a time of tremendous national
repentance, revival and renewal for the Church before the return of
Christ. Thus men need to organise the Church to respond to this influx
of converts.
Another
is that there must be God-appointed apostles and prophets, and other
ministers, to lead this reorganised church because people cannot discover
truth for themselves and need trained eldership to teach them the
Word.
Yet
another false premise is that God cannot renew, purge and reorganise
His Body, nor respond to the false doctrine problems, without turning
to the current Church leadership, and major ministries, to achieve
His aims. History has shown over and over that it is NOT the leadership,
nor the organisations that produce renewal, but the "little people"
- the unknown minister, the hidden pray warrior, the nameless evangelist,
and the band of ordinary Christians who cry out to God. God intends
for each and every member of his Body to be fully functioning; that
is why He so often uses the "little people" to accomplish
mighty works.
THE
WAY IT IS HEADING
And
what is the dangerous conclusion to all this man-made reorganisation?
Not only compromise for the leaders involved, but dependency
for the disciples of such leaders.
God,
I believe, is passionately dedicated to making us stand on our own feet,
without our having to be continually spoon-fed by teachers. The scriptures
are full of commands dealing not just with our initial salvation, but
our GROWTH into MATURITY. We are not meant to remain babies, running to
daddy every time we have a problem or a question. We have been given the
Holy Spirit that we might "grow up into him in all things, which
is the head, even Christ": [Eph 4:15] Jesus Christ is our Leader,
the Head of the Body. He is our Teacher and Guide.
However,
now - at this very crisis point in history - when we have a clear opportunity
to develop a rich spiritual life of our own, we are herded back into the
building by elders who are frightened of losing their control and influence
over us. Yes, it may be with the very best of intentions on their part,
but as far as God's ultimate plan for our lives, it's totally wrong. The
motive is not godly, and the method is humanistic.
SOME
EXAMPLES
We
probably all know, and certainly those who attended our November meetings,
that the Evangelical Alliance in this country met in November to plan
their future into the next millennium. They stated that "the future
depends on US", and they wanted to organise themselves to achieve
what they considered to be godly aims for the future.
One
conclusion arising from the EA meeting was that they could not afford
to be seen as divisive or critical, so they refused to take a stand on
such issues as Toronto. Thus, when asked to condemn publicly the antics
of Morris Cerullo (for example) or Holy Trinity Brompton, they fudged
and fluffed, and said nothing helpful at all. Here we see scriptural standards,
and false teachings, pushed under the carpet in the name of some kind
of "unity" which is certainly not the God-worshipping spiritual
unity that Jesus promised us before he left this earth. It was even suggested
we should drop our objections to working with the Catholics, because "we
all need one another now", in these evil times!
This
man-inspired "Christianity" deserves to bite the dust, and no
doubt it will in God's timing. If this is really the eldership of the
British charismatic Church, then we are better off without it!
THE
SAME SPIRIT?
But
the same false spirit of unity and compromise is infecting much more than
just EA. When we look for a bold statement against false doctrine, there
is none. What we get is prevarication, mealy-mouthed assurances of action
(that lead to nothing) and a terminal desire to please everyone simultaneously.
Few are the men who will stand up, like Elijah, with the courage to denounce
the false prophets in the land. (I suspect that if the prophets of Baal
were in this country today, we would more than likely see them being called
to a meeting to negotiate a joint statement of belief!).
The
idea is, that without "unity" we cannot face a common foe -
and the foe is seen as the new-age movement, Islam, false religions and
cults, humanism, immorality, social decline - all these things that we
know infect our society. However, I have always made it plain that I believe
the REAL foe to be false Christians implementing the antichrist agenda.
THE
SUBTLE SERPENT
I
don't think the devil is really all that concerned if people are lost
in immorality or lost as good church-going citizens. I don't think the
devil would mind if a handful of people got truly saved at a meeting where
he introduced many thousands more to a false spirit of religion. I think
he would be highly delighted if the Roman Catholic style of religion -
minus the truth about justification by faith alone - were to introduce
social change around the world. Social change - what does he care? So
long as people are deceived and going to a lost eternity, they can be
good, bad or indifferent.
When
leaders and ministries unite under the banner of silence and compromise
in the name of social advance - then we have lost the central core of
our biblical belief-system. Some want to see "reformation" of
the Church - but have they not considered this: It was not silence
that overthrew the corrupt papal system at the Reformation! It was not
compromise with falsehood that laid bare the evils of Catholicism.
People laid down their lives and reputations and became outcasts to achieve
this battle with the devil. Why not today?
Today,
it's a matter of "getting along with eachother as Christians"
so that we don't appear divided. People following this line will examine
their fingernails and shuffle their feet nervously if asked to make a
positive statement about false teaching in the Church. Why? Are they too
scared of being sidelined for their beliefs? Too afraid of losing friends
and supporters? Too careful over their budgets and finances that might
be adversely affected? Too wary of saying something offensive? Too "loving"
to criticise? Too "kind" to come up against sin in the camp?
(Or is it that they are not really sure false teaching is altogether that
bad?)
Where
are the LEADERS? Where are the ELDERS? Where is the God-serving man who
will stand up and be counted as a Bible-believing Christian opposed to
all error? Where is the ELIJAH of today, the Jeremiah, prepared to go
to the limits in opposing the antichrist forces, and to suffer the ultimate
penalty if necessary?
It
is my prayer that men (and women!) in this country will come to the end
of their tethers, and will become so disenchanted with those who claim
to be "leaders" that they will seek God for a new move of grassroots
Christianity, where ordinary people will be raised up into eldership,
no longer able to avoid the call that has been on their lives for years!
Perhaps,
if we let go of the old (as I said in November) God will be able to give
us the new. Perhaps, if we stop being lazy, and being satisfied with second-best,
we will seek God's highest and have the courage to turn into Moses and
Elijah ourselves, as God desires. (Perhaps - well, I can dream, can't
I?)
NEW
WAVE STILL GATHERING MOMENTUM
Also
at the November Crossroads meetings, we heard much about a "new wave"
of deception coming our way. Many people had had dreams or pictures given
to them by God featuring a huge tidal wave breaking over the land leaving
terrible destruction. I myself have had this dream! It seems the Body
is hearing from God in order to prepare our hearts - and possibly our
homes - for another Toronto-style attack on truth, only this time much
more subtle and much more far-reaching in its effects.
I
had an intriguing letter from John Canty, the brother of George Canty,
and elderly man in his 80's. He reported that he also had had a striking
dream about a wave. I am reprinting his dream here for you to judge for
yourselves.
"I
am at Filey [seaside resort] on the seafront promenade. The sky is thick
with heavy storm clouds. We have to get away - the winds are strong
and fierce. The sea is roaring, great waves coming ashore. People do
not know where to go or where to shelter. Indoors, or up staircases,
all is dangerous. Hills are not in view; seats are vacant. We are somehow
in a very precarious position, for to go down is worse than to look
down, because of the flooding. Upward we see only broken buildings and
the framework of fences, etc. [broken-down fences].
Obviously
it is such a storm gathering that only a few will find safety. People
mill around. My thoughts fly in prayers to the Lord... it all ends.
But then the word of the Lord is spoken: "there is coming upon
the whole earth a very great wave of darkness and swallowing up of those
who are not of the Kingdom. Gross darkness, with a fury of evil and
deceit taking up the whole of those who know not the Lord, irreligious,
having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.
Only
those who know the Lord are safe. It is the end of the era of enlightenment.
The door is closed. No one else will find salvation - there is no more
gospel preached. [at that time]. The Lord has spoken - the end is near.
None of those who have resisted the word of God have any more opportunity;
the door is fast closed. Only the judgement of the Lord is to come
upon the world. Great troubles of every kind will assail everyone".
I
was interested to have yet another confirmation of what the Lord was saying
to us all last November - that the door is closing, the time for judgement
is coming fast.
TORONTO
CHURCHES EXPECTING REVIVAL
On
the other hand, the UK Restoration/TB churches are gripped by revival
fever. They are also getting visions of the tidal wave, but (sadly) they
seem to think it's a good thing. It was reported in "Renewal"
magazine that
WAVE
THEME RECURS AT LEADERS' CONFERENCE: The picture of a wave kept
reappearing throughout the international leaders' conference in Brighton
convened by New Frontiers International
the tidal wave is not coming,
it has come, said Terry Virgo in his opening address, but it isn't moving
forward, it is growing in height. As it does this, there comes a point
at which it can no longer go higher. It has to break in total fullness
on the shore. This powerful prophetic word set the tone for the conference:
the idea that God was about to break out in a mighty way on the shores
of the nations."
I
reckon this is accurate reporting! But of course the breaking of the wave
will not bring "blessing and revival" but yet more deception,
heartbreak and division in the Church.
For
some reason (I have a few ideas why!) they think June is the significant
month. I'm not close enough to the movement to know all the details, but
a newsletter released today by Pioneer says that what the Holy Spirit
has told them was reported in "Millennium Melt Down" published
recently by Pioneer, and Gerald Coates says - "people sense the importance
of the month of June." There's a drive to get people to join the
40-day fasting scheme from 28th May to 28th June. (But then, others are
fasting up to October 31st, seeming to think that Autumn is the crucial
time. A house divided against itself cannot stand - thank God!)
(If
anyone has seen or has a copy of "Millennium Melt Down", please
let me know what it says!!)
My
own feeling is that the dates are a result of the latter-rain agenda being
put into motion by the "outpouring" in Toronto back in January
1994, though of course this is an arbitrary date because it was happening
before then. Supposedly, the descent of the glory, the ark returning to
the living temple, resulting in the manifestation of the sons of God,
would happen three and a half years after the river began to flow. Thus
mid-June is the date.
Don't
forget though, that "revival" means to them a further and final
outpouring of the same spirit that descended in Toronto, and that anyone
who refuses to submit to this outpouring will be judged 'anti-christ'
and be "removed" during the next three and a half years. The
apostles and prophets of the new order will see themselves as perfected
rulers, God's government on earth, so they will have no qualms about organising
such a purge.
This
seems to me a perfect excuse for the TB churches and all other like-minded
deceived religious people to put their militaristic thoughts and prayers
into action - the final solution!
Just
as the resistance movement throughout the second world war worked to sabotage
the army's work, and to rescue the innocent, so we must be ready to do
spiritual battle, and to rescue those who are fleeing from this new wave.
It means for us that an "underground Church" must exist and
be functioning before the time. That leads me on to my next point
A
BOOK YOU SHOULD READ:
For
those who are out of their churches, and perhaps still feeling a bit guilty,
especially when their friends give them the immortal "where do you
go?" line, there's now a superb booklet that goes through all the
difficulties, scriptures and questions about being outside the church
system. It is called "Custom and Command".
In
time we may have the text on this page (negotiations are under way) but
for now, do get a copy and pass it on. DON'T write to Banner Ministries,
but DO write to the author/distributor at this address:
Stan
Firth, c/o 2c, Gander Green Lane, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 2EH, England.
THE
COST: - Mr Firth offers the book for only 30p to cover his postage. This
is very generous. But I hope there will be many of you who, like me, will
send a donation to Mr Firth in appreciation of both his hard work and
his generosity.
CONCLUSION
This
is the end of my first News Flash. I hope there has been something here
to help or stimulate you. Please keep praying for me, and for all those
on the front lines of this battle. We need to have wisdom, courage, strength
of mind, body and spirit, and an unswerving faith in God. Pray for me
and all ministers who oppose the deception. The attacks are horrendous,
but with your help and support, and by the grace of God, we shall win
through to victory.
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