Joel's Army Growing

Wow, I had never heard of them before.

Thanks for posting this.

 

Thank you, Marcia. This is the kind of heresy, if you will, that those who name the Name of Christ should look out for, and sound the alarm about, rather than making other preachers sound heretic who really are not.

The likes of Koresh armed himself and others and fought back against government. I hope this Joel's "army" thing doesn't grow into an armed movement that imposes itself on Muslims and others through violent means such as the one that the Muslims do, by going to Jerusalem and other Muslim countries and bombing Muslim quarters and their Dome of the Rock in Israel, as avenging locusts of God's army to "free" Israel.

Scary thought.

 

When I hear rumours, I like to go to the source and see what all the noise is about. On googling Joel's Army, I come up with a ton of the usual Christian rumour sites that seem to work so hard at bashing other Christians so of course I am skeptical.

Anyway, the two people that continuously come up are Lou Engle and his ministry called The Call which is a massive solemn assembly for youth that seems to happen twice a year in various cities and operates by word of mouth.

The other character is Todd Bentley who is a tatooed biker faith healer/vision prophet who was preaching at a charismatic revival meeting known as the Florida Outpouring. He was supposed to be a guest speaker in a Florida church called Ignited Church for 5 days in April but apparently its still going on and was covered on GodTV. ABC Nightline did an "expose" in July that questioned the authenticity of the healings that appears to have lead to Bentley and GodTV "taking a break" from the revival. Both started up again in later in the month. One of Bentley's tatoos says "Joel's Army". GodTV has some of the sermons on their website if you do their free sign up.

While I do hear a lot of the usual questionable methods of charismatic faith healers, I don't hear a lot of what the rumour sites are saying. They may still be right but I remain skeptical until I see some more evidence.

 

Bentley's website has a Joel's Army Internship application page. This is what they describe an intern does.

 

Thanks. I'm skeptical of most Christian rumour sources for information so the type of evidence I'm looking for is quotes not taken out of context, generally from their own literature or reputable news sources. I do not hold any credibility for Christian "news" sources trying to bash other Christian groups because they disagree with their approach or theology. Those Christian "news" sources may be evidence that certain groups are concerned about "Joel's Army" but are not evidence of the validity of their concern.

It is unfortunate but I find that gossip and slander tend to run rampant in the internet and non-internet "Christian news" scene.

 

I am familiar with these three Christian rumour mills which I found in my initial google search.

I've never heard of the Southern Poverty Law Center but if that article is an example of their "journalism" it seems they took the course in responsible journalism from Christian rumour mills.

Here is Rick Joyner's website which comes with a statement of faith. Here is an article by Charisma magazine that both praises Joyner and criticizes the authenticity of Joyner's visions. Here is Joyner's response to it which he says is both a positive and inaccurate picture of who he is and what his ministry represents. Not a word of Joel's Army or the militancy mentioned in the rumour articles.

The closest evidence of a real and organized "Joel's Army" is the stuff I found on Bentley's website which looks like a 4 month discipleship course.

Maybe there is a real Joel's Army that is dangerous but I have yet to see any real evidence of its existence.

 

I went about studing Pentecostalism and though there are believers in that denomination I came to the overwhelming conclusion that they are heretical. They fall under the same errors as Montanus. This is a good example of why the early church dismissed them as heretical though they held to firm trinitarian doctrine and even Tertullian fell under their auspices.

 

As someone who was a "member" of MorningStar (rick said if you went twice you were a member, and I went for almost 3 years, lol) and as one who accomplished 2 of those years in their School of the Spirit (many years ago) the teaching of Joel's Army, the manifest sons of God, et. were taught and believed but not by all. So, to the board I say, Marcia is NOT misrepresenting this movement.

And Rick Joyner's statement of faith is NOT solid. Here a VERY brief critique:

I found myself this evening reflecting on days gone by when I was heavily involved with the charismatic/prophetic movement. I spent several years with MorningStar in Charlotte, NC and two years in their School of the Spirit. My wife can testify, I jumped in hands and feet and eyes closed! Recently, I have seen some criticism of the movement in the Reformed circles. So, I poked my head into the movement by visiting MorningStar's website. It has been 10 years now since I have been a part of a movement like that (wow, time flies) and I can honestly tell you, based on watching some videos and reading some things, nothing has changed.

I did spend the time to read through MorningStar's statement of faith. I am surpised I never noticed it before when I was in the movement, but I guess "doctrine" wasn't that important to me then. I wrote a brief critique of the statement and found what I believe is rank heresy. But you also be the judge. This is not meant to be exhaustive by any means. But perhaps, having been in this movement, the Lord will have me deal with it in more depth someday.

Why not critique the statement of faith of what is probably the "leading" church in the movement, MorningStar? You can read their statement of faith here MorningStar Ministries : Statement of Faith I would submit the following errors with this movement, aside from the obvious on the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, are serious.

Rick Joyner used to say to us that if we saw error or that the ministry going astray, he prayed we would have the widom to get out. When Rick publically announced many years ago that he saw God the Father, I got out. But what about their public statement of faith?

1. "When Jesus is lifted up, He will draw all people to Himself. We consider it the primary purpose of the church to esteem and exalt Jesus in every way. It is the focus and devotion of MorningStar Ministries to know and preach Him, and not ourselves." This is an obvious misinterpreation of John 12:32 which speaks of His atoning sacrifice for every tongue, tribe, and nation.

2. Their statement, "On man" is confusing at best. It seems to allude to the doctrine of original sin, but it is not clear at all. The statements under "On the Atonement" lays further confusion to their beliefs in that they say, "Because all have sinned and are therefore under the sentence of death..." So which is it? When they wrote concerning man, they say, "The first man, Adam, transgressed the command of God, and as God had warned, the process of death entered him and all of his descendants because of that transgression. Therefore, all have sinned and are worthy of the sentence of death." So which is it? Edited to clarify: Are they saying that all have sinned because of Adam's transgression? They seem to be saying that all are under the sentence of death because everyone has sinned, and at the same time saying that all are under the sentence of death because Adam transgressed. So which is it? Using my own judgment having been in the movement I would think they would answer: both.

3. "Those who trust in Jesus Christ have access to the Throne of Grace by His sacrifice and by His sacrifice alone." You will notice this phrase repeated several times concerning "access to the Throne of Grace" As one who was involved in this church for years, it is most likely their statement is affirming the "manifestations" you see and hear in their videos. They are seeking a "secret place" through the blood of Jesus Christ to access this "Throne of Grace" wherein they completely wrest Hebrews 4:16 from its context and plain meaning, and apply a mystical experience to it.

4. Their statement on the new birth, or regeneration, is odd at best. They state, "Believing in our hearts that Jesus is the Son of God and in His propitiation made for our salvation results in a regeneration and renewal that constitutes our new birth into new creations." Certainly belief that Jesus is the Son of God is needed. But what they are describing should be the faith given as a gift by the work of regeneration in the heart of man unto believing that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Romans 10:9.

Their statements under "On the purpose of faith" is, if I may be bold (but open to be corrected) is rank heresy. They state, "True faith is of the heart and not just the mind (Romans 10:10). God's purpose in requiring faith for salvation is to raise our focus and concentration above the temporal to the One who is eternal." The first part of the statement gives justification to a believing without the mind. (I was there..lol edited to clarify: What I mean is, I was there to hear many times to set one's mind aside and just receive and accept what the "spirit" was doing). The second past of this statement is a denial of justification. God's purpose for faith in Jesus Christ is NOT to "raise our focus and concentration" but to justify the ungodly through Jesus Christ by faith.

Romans 3:30 "Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith."

Galatians 3:8 "And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed."

Much more can be said to prove the doctrine of justification by faith alone, but I wanted the you to see what they are doing. After their statement regarding the purpose of faith which I quoted here, they state under the same heading, "Therefore, the gospel that is able to save souls must be preached in the power of the Spirit of God." Again, this is to lay justification for what they are doing "in the Spirit of God" and not to agree with the Scriptures themselves.

Unless the Lord does it, we will hardly get an audience with these folks to be heard, let alone with the leadership. I am personally amazed at how silent solid, bible-believing churches have been in regards to this movement. And when it is critiqued, its usually a mere reaction to the strange behavior that is seen among them. But the Lord has not left them without some good. They claim, "We do not accept any doctrine which contradicts Scripture." and, "We do not accept any revelation, vision, dream, prophecy or discernment as truth which contradicts Scripture, or cannot be verified by it. We do not believe that any other writings have the same authority as the canon of Scripture."

Have they not, to whatever degree, just affirmed Sola Scriptura, albeit by practice are denying it? Perhaps it is time by the will of God that someone examine the movement and particularly this church which seems to be at the forefront, and apply their own confession of their faith and test their doctrine and practice by the Scriptures.

May the Lord have deliver them from the error of their way.


I think I fixed the typos.

RB

 

I was commenting on their writing style and use of references, which was an observed fact to look like rumour mill writing

Your description explains their writing style, because they are a rumour mill. The goal of "watchers" is not journalistic integrity but warnings of "potential danger" based on rumour and often using out of context quotations and false associations with little concern for things like substantiation, getting first hand quotations, hearing multiple sides to a story, attempts at objectivity, etc. References in the wikipedia article about them confirm my suspicions.

I am aware of Latter Rain, Five-fold and Dominionists. Their existence does not mean Joel's Army that is portrayed by these rumour mills exists.

I believe you when you say you have attended their school and heard these problematic teachings. Can I ask you some questions about that?

Have you met people who considered themselves part of "Joel's Army"?
If you have, what do you consider to be their main goals?
If you have, how would you describe their militancy?

Thanks!

 

Flipped through their website and it looks like they base most of their comments either on unsupported statements or statements based entirely from the words of critics. While the analysis of the thoughts of critics is important, fair journalism should also look at the words of proponents.

Many of there articles read like their Manifest Sons of God where it consists entirely of conjecture with little if any supported evidence, particularly from direct sources.

Their "About Us" page admits they are not neutral. They say they try to present multiple views, even from proponents of the groups they attack. I unfortunately did not see very much of that in my small sample size which may be unfair to them. I admit that they are better than the average rumour mill. But still a rumour mill non-the-less.

I was talking to ReformedBaptist when I mentioned the attending their school thing.