Moving on to Matthew 10:8 we see a similar pattern. What Johnson fails to mention or realize is that these instructions were for the twelve Apostles. Nowhere does the text even infer that these are prescriptive orders for the church. Also within these instructions they were not to accept any money for the services they provide. Considering 2017 tax returns show Bill Johnson ministries raking in over 1.2 million dollars I will guess that Bill thinks only part of verse 40 is prescriptive. I had a member of the infamous dead raising team comment on my latest Bethel devotional and he actually claimed that these four things always are available for Christians. No they are not. Why would Jesus give all of us these instructions and then contradict Himself in James by saying the elders should pray for the sick? You want to see what happens when you try to whimsically cast out devils? Go read about the Seven Sons of Sceva in Acts Chapter 19. Look at what Johnson teaches here -- in OUR yes He gives us the ability to do these things. This is straight up word faith heresy. There is no biblical precedent for this misleading false teaching. Can God raise the dead? Absolutely -- He is God. I would not even say we should not pray for that after the death but realize that five days after little Olive's death they were still hold mystical prayer vigils at Bethel. It is wrong to the parents. It is wrong to the church.
"Some have asked, 'Isn't this interrupting the sovereignty of God?' And my response is, first of all, we don't ever want to violate the sovereignty of God. God is sovereign. He chooses what He wants, and we cooperate with Him. There's no question. But then my question is why did Jesus raise the dead? Did He violate the sovereignty of God? Did we have the Father will one thing and Jesus will another? Of course not. We know that's not true. The reason Jesus raised the dead is because not everyone dies in God's timing. And Jesus could tell. He would interrupt that funeral. He would interrupt that process--that some just call the sovereignty of God--and he would raise the little girl. He'd raise the adult person from the dead." -- Bill Johnson
This is the God complex that Bill Johnson traffics in. he is comparing himself directly to Jesus. The "well if Jesus did it so can I" defense is heresy. Jesus does not violate His own sovereignty Bill. Perhaps the most egregious teaching here is this nonsense about not everyone dying in God's timing! Is God not in control of His own creation? Is Bill Johnson essentially teaching that God is caught off guard or surprised? Does he even understand God's permissive will? The examples he cites are ludicrous. Jesus did use several instances of death to show HIS glory. That means they died exactly when God wanted them to, as does everyone.
"The point is, Jesus set a precedent for us to follow. We rarely know what we're doing, especially when we come into new areas like this. There's no manual that tells us, 'Fast this many days. Pray this many hours.' We don't have any idea. What we do have is a biblical precedent: Jesus' lifestyle and Jesus' commands. Some would ask, 'How long do you pray and when do you quit praying?' And I don't have a good answer. We're kind of in the middle of that journey right now. But there is a biblical precedent to continue praying. Luke 18:1 is a whole story about the importance of persistence in prayer. The end of Hebrews 10 and the beginning of Hebrews 11 talks about enduring faith--the faith that endures past what everybody would expect. It's that need to hold something. So we're in that point." -- Bill Johnson
You rarely know what you are doing? You got that one right Bill. The problem is you have no humility in your ignorance. As the mathematician from Jurassic Park quipped, you were so busy asking if you could you never asked if you should. You claim this as a new area yet cite thousand-year-old scriptures out of context to try and support your claims. I am glad you admit you have no idea but the next step is to act like it. This isn't a journey Bill! You are shipwrecking people's faith! No one is dead in Luke 18! The Hebrews verses are not about raising people from the dead! What you are doing to the bible is spiritually criminal! You admit you have no clue and then strip mine the bible to find a section on faith so you can teach people to just have faith? Good thing your bible wasn't open to Matthew 26 or you might be teaching us to deny Christ three times. Beloved this is hit and run theology followed by an admittedly ignorant and inaccurate application. If you are at the point of needing to hold onto something why don't you hold on to the true promise of the resurrection! Hold onto the fact that while we mourn here on earth for little Olive we know she is with Jesus now! Try just once to correctly hold onto the bible.
"We admittedly are just trying our best. We want to honor mom and dad. We want to honor their heart for the resurrection of their child. So we've said yes. We've partnered with them. The child has been in the morgue ever since the child died. She's not here. We don't surround the baby and perform some ritual. We're together, honestly, to worship Jesus. He's the miracle worker. We're not. He's the grace giver. We're not. He's the one from whom all perfect gifts flow. And we simply are here to honor the name of Jesus. We know enough about this process through the years. We know enough that when there's a breakthrough, when there's an answer, when there's a miracle of any kind, he gets the glory. He gets the credit. He's the one who performed it. It may have been our hands, it may have been our words, but honestly, He's the miracle worker. We're just tools in His hands. But when it doesn't work, we don't blame God. We give Him the glory. We give Him the praise. We celebrate His goodness, His kindness. Because nothing about our experience, difficult or not, changes who He is." -- Bill Johnson
If you want to honor the name of Jesus you should start by honoring what He has said in His word. I do not mean verse fragments designed to prop up your false teaching. If you really wanted to honor mom and dad you would be honest with them. I will be honest -- if you had spent the first day after her death praying for this miracle I would think it was misguided but I would take no issue with it. It is close to a week now and the nation is watching this display at Bethel with morbid fascination that will bring no glory to God when you finally admit that little Olive has gone on to be with the Savior.
"We are spending our life trying to discover this wonderful, wonderful Father who is perfect in every way, and our passion, our heart, is to discover that and to make it known. We've got a plant of people that are hurting so deeply because they just don't know what this heavenly father is like. So we've given our life to this. We're going to get some things good [and] right, we're going to get some things we won't do so well. But we're in a journey like you, like many of you, and we're in this pursuit to see Jesus exalted and a whole generation of people that can accurately and responsively demonstrate the love, the purity and the power of God. This is our passion. Thank you again. So many of you have helped us. You've prayed with us. You've joined with us. Some of you did so a couple years ago, when we had little Jaxon Taylor in the crisis and the miracle that God performed. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Others of you have sent challenging questions to us, and I thank you as well, because we never want to take anything for granted. We just have this heart to walk in purity, to walk in love, to walk responsibly, and we've said yes to that call, and you helped us. So I want to thank you and I want to bless all of you in Jesus' name. Thank you for being part of our global family." -- Bill Johnson
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