The Senior Associate of Bethel Church tries to defend the nonsense that passes for manifestations of God at his church.

::::::::

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. - Matthew 10:8 (ESV)

Kris Vallotton is the Senior Associate Leader of one of the most heretical churches in the world today; Bethel Church. When I say heretical I do not take the phrase lightly. Bethel is chock full of absolute nonsense masquerading as being Christian. Bill Johnson, the Lead Pastor, believes in the most absurd manifestations which has led to the creation of the false teaching sect known as False Signs and Lying Wonders. He believes in healing on demand, even though he wears prescription eyeglasses. He has endorsed grave sucking, where his followers camp out at gravesites of departed heretics to try and suck some of their residual "anointing" into their own lives. He created a School for the Supernatural, where he believes he can teach people the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He believes worship leaders are all prophetic. He holds Friday night open prophecy mic night where anyone can come up and offer whatever false prophecy comes across their deceived wicked hearts. The heretical faux worship outfit known as Jesus Culture sprang from the loins of Bethel. Jesus Culture's lead worshipper tells a fanciful testimony of being whisked away to the throne room of God by Jesus where she met the Father face to face. Kim Walker-Smith then says that Father God ripped out a piece of His own heart and shaped a miniature Kim Walker Smith who would dance and sing for Him as He maniacally clapped His hands in enjoyment. Beloved in these times of rampant heresy, Bethel Church is one of the most dangerous outfits going today that are literally leading untold numbers of people straight to hell with their brand of experiential Christianity soaked in some of the worst false beliefs out there. Kris Vallotton is Bethel's Senior Associate leader and recently has begun a series of blog posts to defend the nonsense they believe in. The one we will be examining today can be found here:

LINK

Vallotton opens by asserting he will not be engaging in an exhaustive theological dissertation on each point to try and convince his detractors that he and Bethel are right. This is not surprising because he knows he cannot. Once he is forced into Scripture, the nonsensical beliefs are exposed for the rubbish they are. Let us reason together beloved, using only the Bible as our plumb line. Some of these beliefs may seem fringe but they are a growing belief system corrupting the bride of Christ and taking our eyes off of Jesus. They are a scheme from the pit of hell designed by Satan himself to distract the church from the Gospel. Realize too that signs and wonders are not by default from God.

But there was a man names Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the power of God that is called great." -- Acts 8: 9-10 (ESV)

Simon the Sorcerer was essentially practicing witchcraft and the people called him of God. Pharaoh's magicians were able to mimic some of the signs and wonders of God. The presence of miraculous signs is not a reason to assume it is from God. There are three essential things we must look at. Are the signs and wonders biblical? Do they glorify Jesus or man? Do they make any lucid sense? The answer of explanation often offered is "God can do anything." If that is your defense then you have none. Just because God can do anything does not mean He will. It is a logical fallacy. Now, onto the three areas Vallotton defends.

Angel Feathers

For the uninformed, this alleged miraculous sign from God is when feathers randomly start falling from the ceiling at various Bethel events. These are attributed to angels of course to make the whole experience feel super spiritual. Bill Johnson is on record as saying that the feathers follow him. He recounts one day ordering food in a diner and they started falling around him in his booth. Vallotton offers absolutely no proof of anything other than his own eye witness to this sign, claiming he has seen it a couple of hundred times. He essentially admits that it sounds like something a lunatic would say:

"I have had several skeptics ask me if I believe in feathers. LOL! I want to say no! Because I understand that I sound like a kook, but I have seen them with my own eyes." -- Kris Vallotton

Beloved the belief system revealed here is subtle but very important. Bethel teaches experiential Christianity. They value personal experience over what the Bible actually says. They make it a point to try and label people who insist on biblical accuracy as being "religious" or trying to "put God in a box." I have dealt with adherents of Bethel and this brand of false teaching and invariably their answer to biblical criticism is that they know better because they have seen it themselves! That is what Kris Vallotton is essentially arguing here. Don't tell me what the Bible says! I trust my lying eyes!

Let's apply our rules beloved. First of all, how in the world does any of this insanity glorify God? Simple answer is that it does not. Johnson's magnificent tales about feathers in diners glorified him, not Jesus. Feathers randomly falling in a service no more glorifies Jesus than if corn beef sandwiches started randomly falling. Secondly, where in the entire canon of Scripture is there any manifestation of angel feathers? Again, simple answer -- nowhere! The canon of Scripture does not even refer to angels as having feathers. That is a human depiction based upon our own mortal understanding. These are heavenly beings. They are not bound by earthly laws. What about the Seraphim and Cherubim preacher! Well, while it is true that the Bible clearly states these two versions of angels have wings, it is only our narcissistic and simplistic minds that assume that must mean they have feathers as well. Angels are not birds. It is painfully obvious that the Bible does not support the idea of angels having feather or any sort of spiritual manifestation being represented by falling feathers. Lastly, why in the world would God do something so silly and unbiblical? It defies the laws of common sense. In a prayer service He could manifest in real ways and with real signs and wonders. People could be healed. People could be saved! People could be delivered! A word of knowledge could bring an unbeliever to the foot of the cross. The real gift of tongues could convince a foreigner of the presence of God. With all of these things at the disposal of the Holy Spirit I am supposed to believe He is dropping some feathers from the ceiling? Thankfully I do not have to believe such garbage because I have my Bible.

Gold Dust

For the uniformed, the gold dust phenomenon is when gold glitter or flakes start to magically appear at events at Bethel. Sometimes they are associated with what they call a "glory cloud" which has the appearance of smoke coming through the church ventilation system. Again, Vallotton relies solely upon his personal experience to trump Scripture. He claims the first time he saw this was when a conference speaker "released the glory of God" in the room. Huh? He did what? Was the glory of God tied up somewhere? Had someone kidnapped it? That must have been some powerful speaker to be able to wield the very glory of God. Wait a minute, doesn't the Bible teach us something about this?

I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. -- Isaiah 42:8 (ESV)

This speaker Mr. Vallotton saw did no such thing as release the glory of God. He may have released a demonic presence. That would line up with Scripture at least. The emissaries of the devil disguise themselves as angels of light and perform false signs and wonders. Vallotton however claims again that he has witnessed this hundreds of times so the heck with Scripture! At this point in the blog, he realizes how asinine he must sound so he offers this weak and feeble attempt to defend the indefensible and blame it all on God:

"Why does God do these things, you ask? I really don't know. I have often been among different groups of leaders who speculate about the purpose of these signs. I have heard many ideas that sound good and make me feel better about the things I have experienced. But the truth is, I really don't know why these things happen. Therefore, I do think feathers and gold dust qualify as "wonders." -- Kris Vallotton

It is at this point that I really begin to feel bad for Kris Vallotton. I feel badly whenever I see someone who has been taught so poorly. I know where he gets this flawed belief system from. Bill Johnson often refers to these events as "signs that make you wonder." It is a nice catchy phrase but it butchers the Bible in the process. Wonders are not called that because we cannot explain them. That is ridiculous. Wonders testify to the awesomeness of God. They elicit a wonder from us. An awe. A reverence. But God is not the author of confusion. He did not send the cloud and pillar of fire and make the Israelites guess it was Him. The reality is that if you are left wondering what or why something is going on, that is not God.

What about our little test? Does the random appearance of gold dust, which by the way has never been claimed to actually be gold, bring any glory to Jesus? Absolutely not. It cannot possibly advance the cause of the Gospel. Unbelievers would correctly dismiss you as a crackpot. Does the Bible offer any examples of gold dust manifesting as a sign or wonder? Absolutely not. The actual term gold dust appears only one time in the entire canon of Scripture and it has nothing to do with this. Do the disciples talk about seeing gold dust? The Apostle Paul? Jesus Himself? The answer is always no because this manifestation is not biblical and therefore cannot be of God. No matter how many hundreds of times Kris Vallotton has claimed to have seen it. It sounds more and more like Vallotton has no ability to discern the demonic from the things of God. How could he when he refuses to use the Bible as his plumb line?

Raising the Dead

Vallotton is all over the map in this section. Let us lay a little ground work beloved. Can God still raise people from the dead? Absolutely. Why? Because He is God. If that is your only defense however then you have no defense. Just because God can do something does not mean He will or He has. Let us apply our test and see what happens. First of all, does this bring glory to God? Absolutely not. The people in Charismania who claim to have raised people from the dead all claim it for self-promotion. People like Reinhard Bonnke and Heidi Baker are charlatans of the highest order who claim these types of miracles but offer not one shred of actual proof. Does this cause the world to see the power of God or the deception of man? Think about how powerful such a case of real resurrection could be if medically substantiated! Instead it is used as a parlor trick or for advertising purposes.

Secondly, what does the Bible say about it? Well there is no question that raising someone from the dead is biblical. Including Jesus Himself, there are nine instances recorded in the Bible. While no one is arguing that it has occurred biblically, unlike the gold dust and angel feathers nonsense. Kris Vallotton however, approaches it like the Seven Sons of Sceva in the Book of Acts. When you spend your life playing church and thinking it is all one big theatrical experience then is it any wonder that you would approach something as holy and reverent as resurrection with such flippancy?

"I need to be honest; I have personally never raised anyone from the dead although I have tried twice." -- Kris Vallotton

"Some of the students from the Supernatural School of Ministry read this verse and decided to go down to the morgue and "practice" raising the dead! Crazy? Maybe, but I admire their faith and their guts"So far they haven't raised anyone at the mortuary from the dead, but it hasn't deterred them a bit. I have heard some students from another school that started a DRT team. You guessed it, the letters stand for Dead Raising Team! -- Kris Vallotton

"I do know several Christians who have raised the dead. Radical? Yeah! -- Kris Vallotton

You "tried" twice? Students from a heretical school "practice" raising the dead? Crazy? Yes Kris, this is crazy. It is also wildly unbiblical and irreverent. The resurrection is not something we dabble in. It is not something we practice; like a skill that needs development. This isn't juggling. The dead raising team? Seriously? What is this a game to these people? Kris Vallotton knows several Christians who have raised the dead? Really? The DRT, which has its own website, claims 12 resurrections to its credit. Think about this logically and spiritually beloved. The entire canon of Scripture spans 66 books and thousands upon thousands of years yet there are a total of nine documented resurrections. This heretical DRT claims 12 and Kris Vallotton knows several people who have successfully raised people from the dead. This is what happens when you do not take the Bible seriously and rely solely upon your experience. The Bible assures us then that these claims are as false as the people making them.

Thirdly, does it make any real sense? Why would God do this? Why would He allow only nine resurrections throughout 6000 years and then suddenly allow anyone with a website and wild dreams see them all the time? The answer is He wouldn't. Do not tell me that this is being done to show people the power of God so that they may believe either. There are three reasons why that is a false argument. First, the more frequent you make something the less miraculous it actually is. Secondly, God would not orchestrate all of these resurrections without any proof. He is not the author of confusion and if it was glory He was looking for, He would certainly leave it to people who are so abusive to His Word to begin with! Lastly, Jesus tells us directly that even the miraculous will not persuade those who have no intention of being persuaded:

He said to him, "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead." -- Luke 16: 31 (ESV)

Only an adulterous generation seeks a sign beloved. But an even more apostate generation corrupts them and distorts what is holy. Could God manifest Himself in gold dust and angel feathers? Sure but why would He? When we apply our simple tests to these phenomena we are left to conclude that either these are well designed lies or a clear example of trafficking in the demonic. As for being raised from the dead, the Bible does support this awesome display of the power of God. Nine times in recorded history. Nowhere in Scripture does anyone practice it or try it out. Kris Vallotton is the Senior Associate Leader at Bethel Church, which is one of the most dangerous sources of witchcraft and false teaching known to man. So what are we to make of our key verse today, which both Kris Vallotton and the DRT claim as their biblical mandate for raising the dead? Let us begin by remembering that we do not make doctrine out of one verse snippet. The Word interprets the Word. If one of our imperatives as believers was to raise the dead then it would be crystal clear. There are however other problems to explore regarding the key verse.

1) The portion of this verse that reads "raise the dead" is not actually found in every manuscript. While it is generally included today, it very well may not have been part of the intended gospel account. Similarly, the section of Mark's gospel that deals with handling snakes is also not found in the original manuscripts. When this is the case we ought to be even more diligent in seeking other biblical corroboration before shaping doctrine around it.

2) The term raise the dead could also be a spiritual reference to one's soul and not meant to be taken literally as to physical death. This appears to be the stance Matthew Henry has taken on the matter. The physical raising of one's life pales in miraculous comparison to the spiritual resurrection from sin. As is often the case, we value the wrong life.

3) Related to number two, there is not one single case of resurrection following this charge until Christ Himself is raised. This was an initial charge to His disciples; not a blanket instruction for the body of Christ. In fact, Jesus replaced this commission with the Great Commission after His own resurrection and that makes no mention of raising the dead. So if He really meant for His disciples to raise the dead, why is there not one documented case of such between the time this instruction was given and the Great Commission?

When we take these matters into consideration we must conclude that there is a chance Jesus was not speaking to us, did not mean physical resurrection, and this instruction may not have even been in the original gospel account. This all adds up to a simple conclusion. You cannot build doctrine around it. But Kris Vallotton has made it abundantly clear that he does not care about doctrine. Because he has personally experienced gold dust and angel feathers he "knows" they are true. Because he knows several Christians who have raised people from the dead -- that is good enough for him. He does not use the Bible as his plumb line but rather his experiences. This explains why he falls for some of the worst heresies around today.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- April 28, 2016

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.