A deep dive into the world of Charismania and how they minimize the bible.

::::::::

Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. - 2Corinthians 3:5-6 (ESV)

How 'Word Without Spirit' Ministry Is Killing Today's Churches

Bert Farias has always seemed more tethered to the planet than his peers at Charisma News. Of course it is easy to appear sane amidst a cesspool of crazy. While people like Jennifer LeClaire are waxing prophetically about sneaky squid spirits, Farias is usually writing about holiness. While Stephen Strang is pontificating about how the church can take over the world like Ren and Stimpy, Farias is usually writing about the Holy Spirit. It is this area that he unfortunately goes off the Charismatic rails because Farias is above all else a Charismaniac. Not to be confused with a Charismatic, who believes that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are active today, albeit greatly abused. I am a Charismatic. I believe any competent reading of scripture renders the argument of cessationism, that the gifts ceased at the end of the Apostolic Age, inaccurate. Charismaniacs however, believe in any alleged expression of gifts attributed to the spirit must be of God. They believe in any supernatural event as must have originating from God. They check their discernment at the door, embrace whackadoodleness (that's a technical industry term) and if you dare question them you are deemed a legalist who needs an "encounter" with the spirit. What they fail to see is that any such movements not rooted in scripture are not the from the Holy Spirit and thus they attribute much demonic activity to God. Bethel is an example of such a church. Gold dust, gemstones, glory clouds and angel feathers are examples of false manifestations. Holy Laughter in Toronto, Kundalini evil spirits in Pensacola, and Todd Bentley kicking people in the face to impart "healing" are examples of historical false movements in Charismania. With this as the backdrop let us analyze Farias' latest offering linked above on Charisma News about how "word without spirit ministries are killing the church."

"I love the Bible. I read it. I live it. I preach from it. I know it to be the inspired Word of God. But it is the voice of God and the Spirit's witness in my life that makes it so. The Bible is not just a written Word but a living word. Many more Christians need to read the written Word, but many also need to learn to commune with the living Word. There is a difference. "who has made us able ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Cor. 3:6, author's emphasis). It is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and are life" (John 6:63, author's emphasis)." All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16, author's emphasis)." - Bert Farias

"I love the bible, but" never ends well. You just know from the start that the opening statement is probably untrue. Can you imagine telling your spouse, "I love you but?" I am glad he preaches from it and that he allows himself to be inspired by it. Now if we can only have him believe it and put it into practice. The bible being a living word means it is alive in our lives. God speaks through the words! Instead Charismaniacs get hung up on chasing the voice of God, as Farias indicates here. Now, can God talk audibly to you? Sure, He is God. The chances are not however what you have been led to believe. While it may seem to happen all the time in the bible, remember that the bible covers 6000 years of history. The amount of times God audibly speaks to us is very minimal, especially if you do not count the times He speaks through His prophets. Let me explain what Farias is speaking about when he references the voice of God. Bethel and most Charismaniacal churches teach eastern mysticism tricks such as emptying oneself and then listening for that "still small voice." Then whatever pops into their hearts and head is deemed to have come from God. The bible however, warns us that the heart is wickedly deceitful. This is how the false prophet industry works. This is actually how Bethel teaches their worship leaders!

Perhaps the saddest thing is to watch a decent divider of the word try to leverage the bible through proof texting. Farias uses the key verses above to infer that they speak to this perceived difference between the written word and this nebulous "communing with the living word." The problem is that is not what these verses speak to at all. Just reading the surrounding text and available commentaries make it clear that Paul is distinguishing between the law and the New Covenant. Under the law, we would not pass the judgment of God but thanks to His grace and mercy we have the new covenant sealed by the Holy Spirit! Never let someone downplay the dire importance of written scripture to trumpet something as vague and malleable as communing with the living word. We can rely upon the written word. It is never wrong. We cannot rely on our own experiences of personal communing.

The Bible is dead to those who do not have the life of God. Sermons are dead without the Holy Spirit infusing life into them. One day a pastor decided to ask for input from his parishioners concerning his sermons. Since he spent a good portion of his week preparing sermons for his congregation, he was interested to know if his sermons were helping them. One woman raised her hand and asked him a provoking question. "Pastor, if on your way to the pulpit God asked you to adjust your sermon and preach something else, would you be open to doing that?" Here is the pastor's response: "Well, how would I know that was God?" In other words, this pastor knew the Bible to be God, but was doubtful about God speaking to him outside of the Bible. He knew the written Word but not the living word. He knew the Scriptures but did not really know the author of the Scriptures. He had the Word without the Spirit. Isn't that how it is with so many preachers, theologians and believers today? Many say that they're sticklers for the Bible, but yet those same people don't believe in the gifts and manifestations of the Holy Spirit and don't have a real fellowship with Him. They don't know the Spirit's ways and are unfamiliar with His leadings.

The example given is perfect for illustrating the dangers of accepting any input into our hearts as God ordained. I want us to seriously consider this for a minute. The God of the entire universe knows and sees all time. Nothing surprises Him. Why in the world would He give a sermon to a preacher taken from the word and then ask the preacher to change it at the last second? Simply put, He wouldn't. Nothing could have possibly arisen that God did not see coming. The pastor's response is absolutely correct. How can he be sure the thought about changing the sermon was actually God? It is not about doubting that God can speak to him - He already did! He prepared a sermon from His word! Any ask to suddenly change this is more than likely our flesh. There is no difference between the living and written word. This is the point so many charismaniacs simply do not understand. The written word is alive! It is insulting that Farias would accuse the pastor of not really knowing the author, which is God. I agree with Farias' point about cessationists but not his explanation of ways of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not exceed the written word! He doesn't speak in gibberish and make people collapse when touched by a preacher. He does not use clairvoyance and call it prophecy. He does not traffic in false signs and lying wonders. Just think about what Farias is saying here. It is a held belief by charismaniacs that there is the written word and that is great but then there is some "other level." This level is supernatural and apparently contains truths beyond what the mere written word can provide. That is utter blasphemy.

Here's a compelling question: Did the apostle Paul know that when he was writing his letters to the churches that it was Scripture? Did he think that what he was penning by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost would one day be canonized as Scripture and read by billions of people over centuries of time? I think not. And I don't think the other apostles and writers of the New Testament knew it either. They were given revelation and inspired to write it and express it according to how it took shape within them. In fact, many of them wrote the same thing but from different perspectives and angles.

I agree that the bible gives no indication that Paul knew what he was writing would one day become the bible but Farias is incorrect that the others did not see his writings as such. Consider these words from Peter

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. - 2Peter 3:14-16 (ESV)

As they do the other scriptures. Here is Peter clearly referring to Paul's letters as scripture. Farias' definition of divine inspiration is equally troubling here. God inspired the writers to write exactly as HE wanted. Not how it took shape in them. Farias continues at this point by showing the different representations of the Great Commission in the four gospel accounts. To which he summarizes:

"Can you see the similarities of the commission of Jesus to His disciples, and yet can you also see how different aspects of it were emphasized by the different writers? The same thing could be said about the writers of the epistles. There were many similar things written differently. That's because it was written by the same Spirit. My point is that even though the Bible is complete and we cannot add to it, men today are still speaking and doing things by the inspiration of the Spirit of God. Men who do not know the Spirit and are not familiar with Him are at a great disadvantage. Some who are strictly of the "letter" of the Bible are often quick to exclaim, "If it's not in the Bible, it's not God!" But what does that mean? What they usually mean is that if the example of it is not in the Bible then it's not of God. Others say that if it disagrees with the Word, you should throw it out." - Bert Farias

Beloved, go read the four accounts and you will find they are the same. Yes the language used might be different because each Gospel account was meant for different audiences but the fundamentals truths remained the same. God is not the author of confusion. Yet Farias wants to create these differences to excuse his belief that because people are speaking today under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit are somehow advantaged or better than. He is making the same mistake we already discussed. The Holy Spirit will NEVER inspire someone to speak outside the boundaries that scripture has already set up. A perfect example would be the Toronto blessing where people rolled around on the floor laughing uncontrollably and making animal noises. This sort of behavior is found nowhere in scripture. That is how we know it is not of God! To Farias it is just a "move of the spirit" but he cannot see that it must be a demonic spirit moving because he has separated the Holy Spirit from the word of God. So yes, if it disagrees with the word, we throw it out.

"Examples. Can you find an example of Jesus or the apostles punching someone and seeing them be healed? Yet, men like Smith Wigglesworth have done it. I've done it. One time I slapped a young woman on the ear, and she was healed of deafness. Where do we find that example in the Bible?" - Bert Farias

The Wigglesworth was wrong. The notion that Farias is suggesting here is what led to the rise of Todd Bentley who once punched a man with stage four pancreatic cancer in the stomach to allegedly heal him. He claimed the Holy Spirit spoke to him once and told him to kick an old lady in the front row, in her head, with his steel tipped boot in order for the "spirit to be loosed." Are you getting the picture here? So then what do we do with the "experience" Farias had with the deaf woman? It never even occurred to him that God wanted to heal the woman regardless of the antics of Bert Farias. Is he suggesting that if he did not slap her and only prayed that God would have not healed her? That is what Charismania does to rational people.

"Several years ago I was preaching in West Africa, and a young man was struck by the power of God on the streets right outside the facility I was preaching in. He froze in his tracks and couldn't move. Where is the example of that in the Bible?" - Bert Farias

Besides the subjective commentary attached with this experience, who is to say that it was God at all? Why was the freezing in his tracks necessary? Why would God add to his word about the experience of hearing the gospel preached? Simple answer - He wouldn't.

"There are fewer than 200 miracles in the Bible. Does that mean God is limited to less than 200 miracles among us today?" - Bert Farias

Not at all! Pay close attention now though. The issue is not what God and God cannot do. It is when man adds his own personal swag to it. The bible says to have the elders pray over the sick but that's not radical enough for charismaniacs! No, let's drop kick them off the altar for their healing and then dare to challenge people who have the temerity to question the biblical nature of such nonsense. It is not enough that the bible implores us to godly contentment. The charismaniac must roll around on the ground laughing like an idiot to prove they are more spiritual.

"I've been in meetings when the Spirit of God was in manifestation and believers broke out into great joy and dancing. Where is that in the Bible? There are many professing Christians who don't believe in dancing because they don't see it in the Bible. They don't believe in holy laughter because they don't see it in the Bible. But the Bible commands us to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18), and these are examples of what happens when people are filled with the Spirit. In other words, dancing and holy laughter are outflows of being filled with the Holy Spirit. We can be so filled with the Spirit that we are drunk. Well, you can imagine a number of things a drunk person would do when he's under the influence. We are supposed to live that way, peopleunder the influence of the Holy Ghost! That's God's best for us. Glory to God!" - Bert Farias

Great joy and dancing are found throughout the bible! Mixing that in here with things like holy laughter is absurd. The Ephesian verse actually says do not get drunk but instead be filled with the spirit. So being filled with the spirit must be unlike the drunk experience. Hear me well. You cannot be drunk on the Holy Spirit. It runs contrary to the fruits of the spirit! How can you exhibit any self-control if you are drunk! Realize what Farias is saying here. That God's best for us is to stagger around as if we were drunk. How ridiculous. Even at Pentecost when the people accused the new spirit led disciples with being drunk, Peter corrected them. We are supposed to live in step with the word of God through the illumination of scripture provided by the Holy Spirit.

"It's amazing the number of things so-called believers refuse to believe because they can't find them in the Bible. Some don't even believe in playing musical instruments in church because they don't see that practice in the Bible. Entire denominations have been formed from such extreme beliefs." - Bert Farias

And those extreme denominations would be wrong. Just as wrong as the ones who handle snakes because of Mark's gospel account. The extremes are on both sides Bert. Imagine the nerve of insisting that the bible aligns with the "Christian" behavior we experience. Wow.

"The Bottom Line - Multitudes were saved in the book of Acts, but there are only a few examples of how they got saved. There is the dramatic conversion of Saul (Acts 9), the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8) and the Philippian jailer (Acts 16). Was your experience like theirs? If not, does that mean you aren't really saved? Do you see the foolishness of that sort of reasoning? The important thing is to get saved regardless of the example of how you got saved." - Bert Farias

The examples provided to prove his point are just ludicrous. And to do it defending any form of salvation is so dangerous. Read Matthew 7 and see the people who say Lord Lord when they stand before Christ only to discover they never knew Him. HOW you are saved is entirely the point! Romans teaches us that people are only saved through the true presentation of the gospel. Rick Warren declares people saved after a seven-word prayer. Joel Osteen never preaches on sin but declares you saved after each of his self-help messages. Narrow is the way and few are those who find it! Do not believe for a second that how you are saved is unimportant. I said the sinner's prayer in 1998 but was not saved until 2002. Do not be deceived. So many join a popular mega church. They serve and are happy. They are told they are saved. They last about three years and have a falling out. They never go back to church but still believe they are saved. Read Matthew 7 and work your salvation out with fear and trembling!

"Here is the wisdom to all these questions: The Bible is not just a book of examples but principles. If there is no exact example of it in the Bible, yet it is still in line with God's nature and principles, don't throw it out. Only from the Bible can we know the true character and nature of God and His principles, so the Bible is still our final authority." - Bert Farias

This is dangerously stupid. The bible is not just principles. It is the final revealed will of God! We can convince ourselves anything is of the nature of God but having to defend it with scripture is another story. The bible is our final authority, period. Of everything, not just His nature and principles. Let's examine this for a second using his own example of slapping the deaf girl. Does slapping the disabled line up with God's nature or principles? Of course not but Farias would probably say that the healing does. Yes Bert but why then did you slap her? Is God incapable of healing someone unless you slap them first? You see healing is in the bible but your actions to get there are not.

"A majority of God's principles are to save, fill people with His Spirit, and heal and deliver. He wants to see His people blessed and edified. He will never violate those principles, but there are not always exact examples of what He does in the Bible. After all, Jesus did many, many things that were never recorded: "There are also many other things which Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written. Amen" (John 21:25)." - Bert Farias

So than all bets are off? Is that the summation here from Bert Farias? Because the things Jesus did were so unaccounted for we can assume everything is ok? Drunk in the spirit? No problem because Jesus probably did this in one of those unwritten moments? Salvation leads to the filling of the person with the spirit, healing them spiritually, and delivering them from the hands of the enemy. These are not the principles of God. Farias has so much confused. According to this God will never violate the principle of wanting to see us blessed. All of us. That Jesus was handed over to death on a cross so that we might always enjoy temporal blessings. It is sad that this is what so many preachers have reduced the gospel to.

"Here's the bottom line. The Bible is not enough. The Word is not enough. We need the Word and the Spirit. We need the life and the manifestations of the Spirit of God. We need to judge all things, not just by whether they agree with the Word, but by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. I've observed many strange and flaky things people have supposedly done "in the Spirit," but there was no anointing on it. We must also learn to evaluate things by the anointing. A casual observer will not be able to discern the difference between what is and what is not the anointing, and what is soul and what is Spirit. For example, I see so much in the so called "prophetic" movement today that does not carry any anointing, yet people are running after it." - Bert Farias

Well at least Farias was honest to admit that he does not believe the eternal word of God is enough. We must also have these man-created manifestations of the spirit. Look at what he asserts here. That discernment is not only achieved through counsel with the word of God but also with the "anointing of the Holy Spirit." How subjective can you get! I have seen many people swear by the anointing of utter charlatans! How many people swear by the anointing of Bill Johnson! How about when the entire NAR, including Johnson, went to Lakeland to anoint Todd Bentley a prophet? The reason why so many are false in the prophetic movement has nothing to do with some abstract concept of anointing and everything to do with the bible. The word of God says if they are wrong once, they are false. Period, end of story. I feel bad that Bert Farias is not satisfied with the word of God. I truly am.

"But the anointing which you have received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. For as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and just as it has taught you, remain in Him" (1 John 2:27). Familiarize yourself with the true anointing of the Holy Spirit, and with Jesus, the living Word. Go to meetings and places where He is in manifestation, for many of these things are caught more than taught. Learn to commune with the Lord in the Spirit. Pray much in other tongues. Learn to flow with the Spirit in your own private prayer time and communion with God. Get full and get free! Remember, the letter kills; it is the Spirit that gives life." - Bert Farias

The law does indeed kill. That is why God sent His only Son to die in our place. Our salvation is sealed with the Holy Spirit as we are born again! Now we have life. So yes, the spirit gives life. None of that however means that we should toss the bible to the side and lament that it just simply is not enough. These are dangerous end times beloved. Do not fall for the deceptive voice of the enemy. The bible say that the spirit will lead us into all truths contained in the bible not that He would tell us to smack someone with a 2 by 4 who needs healing, make us bark like a dog during church service, or appear drunk to the world. I do not need to some confused doctrine of the anointing. I have the bible. That is definitely enough for me.

Reverend Anthony Wade - July 20, 2021

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.