Dr. Brown recently went on Strang's podcast to defend Benny Hinn...

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But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. - 2Peter 2:1-3 (ESV)

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As we constantly expose, Charisma News is just a virtual cesspool of false signs and lying wonders along with rabid NAR dominionism. The founder and chief architect is Steven Strang. He is a political operative first and foremost. The bulk of his work is in the arena of doing the bidding of his political masters, the Republican Party. The other side of his work however is equally evil, and it is to prop up any false Charismatic preachers that he can. He protects the brand at all costs. He is a ferocious defender of false teachers and abuses the platform Charisma enjoys in the Evangelical world to protect the wolves that are clearly devouring the sheep. The most recent egregious example was his six-month defense of Mike Bickle during and after it became clearer that not only was he a serial sexual assaulter but that at least two of his victims were children. Instead of rightly condemning, Strang used Charisma to defend Bickle, accuse the victim advocates of staging a coup to settle a church fight, and smeared Bickle's victims as just being used by the devil. When the world was realizing the accusations by Misty Edwards were staged, Strang was using them to declare that Bickle was exonerated. Trying to move on from Bicklegate, Strang has new cause du jour - Benny Hinn. Strang had Hinn on to try and rehabilitate his image after it was eviscerated by a four-hour documentary by Mike Winger, exposing just how false and damaging Hinn has been for forty years. That, plus multiple articles on Charisma did not move the needle on public criticism, as Hinn basically owned up to being a false prophet, fake healer, and flock fleecing huckster by saying, "hey I am just human." Whenever Strang needs to bring more street cred into his stupidity, he drags Michael Brown in for a video segment and the most recent is linked above. Keep in mind that this video is supposed to be about Benny Hinn. Let us reason together once more beloved and see all that is wrong with the gatekeeper Michael Brown and his platform, Steven Strang.

"How can we as Christians believers, who believe in the power of the Holy Spirit, who know that people mess up and make mistakes, and say things they shouldn't say, how can we understand what's going on and what can we learn from it?" - Steven Strang

As Strang is wont to do, he frames his premise to try and achieve the response he wants to elicit. Now he knows he has a real problem trying to rehabilitate Hinn's image, so he starts by pretending this is just about people messing up. Little ministry oopsies we all should be given a spiritual mulligan on. This is similar to the tone deaf Hinn recently telling Strang that it was a shame that people only focus on the negative. I remember once I was having a disagreement early in my conversion with a brother on some point of doctrine and my defense was that I heard my pastor preach what I was saying so it couldn't be wrong. I was sure. He convinced me to go back and check and oops, my pastor simply said, "I said that? Yeah, that's wrong." That my friends is what an error looks like. It is a mistake. It is a mess up. If the only thing Benny Hinn ever did was falsely prophesy that Fidel Castro would die in the 1990s, no one would be bothering him today. If he only participated in those early TBN praise-a-thon scams but realized it was wrong and never did unscrupulous fundraising again, no one would be bothering him. Benny Hinn has not made oopsies. He is a wolf who has laid waste to countless people and their faith. We can tell however from Strang's opening here that he has no intention of having a serious conversation. He just wants to try and minimize the damage Hinn has suffered these past few weeks.

"We have to realize there is a criticism that is destructive. That only tears down. That looks for the worst. That is not fair. That is not even-handed before the Lord. That does not receive good reports but only bad reports. That thrives on negativity. That's one thing. But there is another criticism that is healthy and life-giving. The bible is full of examples. Proverbs praises rebuke all the time. So, there is a criticism that is healthy and good. We have had a real problem in the America church in general and in the Charismatic church in particular with unaccountability. We can just speak out prophetic words and whether they come to pass or not we just keep going. We raise funds in ways that are manipulative and we just keep going. There seems to be little accountability and it seems big ministries just keep on going without a problem but we are living in a different day now and as much as Internet can be infested with gossip and slander and probably all kinds of junk." - Dr. Michael Brown

If Dr. Brown was there to witness the pronouncement of woes upon the Pharisees by Christ, he would admonish Jesus for being unloving. Note here he is being asked, what can we learn from the four-hour documentary by Mike Winger absolutely exposing all the falseness of the wolf Hinn. His answer has nothing to do with Hinn. Instead, he uses the question to launch into an attack on discernment. Let's be clear. Exposing wolves and false teaching is only negative to the wolf. It is a great positive to the body of Christ. It only tears down the wolf. The Lord never commands us to pet the wolves killing His sheep. We are not told to test everything and be gentle with it all. No! We are to hold on only to the good. Dr. Brown was asked about a voracious wolf in Benny Hinn and his answer was about discernment ministries and gossip and slander on the Internet. Absolutely disgusting. He would continue:

"A second doesn't go by when someone is posting a lie about me personally. On the other hand, people are watching and people are asking questions and that's good and that's healthy so there is kind of an automatic accountability that is coming up now and rather than running form it we should embrace it. Where we are being falsely accused the record can be set straight and when there is something valid let's address it. The goal is not to please destructive critics who are not going to hear a good word that we say and will never believe our repentance. The goal is to honor and please the Lord and minister to the rest of the body that is watching and is hurting, that has questions, that is looking for integrity and we have to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. We should live lives that are above reproach. Let's live in the light. It is painful and difficult but ultimately for the good." - Dr. Michael Brown

Ahh, and the airing of personal grievance continues for Brown. No one is lying about Dr. Michael Brown. We use his own words. I do not need to lie because his own words betray him. Why in a discussion about Benny Hinn is he interjecting the possibility of being falsely accused? Yes, we are to live lives above reproach so where is the proper criticism for Benny Hinn, who has clearly NOT done this? The issue is not the level of destructiveness in the criticism but rather the truth regarding them. Once again, when asked about Hinn, Dr. Brown talks about discernment ministries. Discernment ministers were not the ones waiving their suit coat like it was magic to falsely heal people. We were not the ones lying about prophecy or robbing people of their money in the name of God. When you say we should live in the light but perpetuate the darkness of Benny Hinn, your disingenuousness is transparent.

"I think heresy hunters have a value in the body of Christ but when there's this constant negativity that you are referring to it can be very very destructive - what do you think." - Steven Strang

Once again, Strang frames his question to elicit the answers he truly wants. He pays lip service to discernment, using the pejorative term heresy hunters, but bemoans "constant negativity." This is of course absurd. When Benny Hinn cheated people out of their hard-earned money - that was negative, not someone pointing it out. When Hinn pretended to hear from God and wrecked someone's faith - that was negative, not someone pointing it out. The consistent theme from Strang, Dr. Brown and Charisma is to always side with the wolf and never be concerned about the sheep. Let us be clear. Rooting out false doctrine, fake healing, and hucksters fleecing the flock is not negative. It is biblically required. It heals the body of Christ. It is not destructive. Read the key verses above beloved. It is false prophets and false teachers, such as Benny Hinn, who bring in destructive heresies into the body! The world looks at fraudsters like Hinn and the way of truth is blasphemed! This notion that properly documenting what is false can be destructive is pure bunk and found nowhere in the bible. Here was Brown's answer:

"Yeah, that's why I said there is destructive criticism and constructive criticism. Sometimes constructive criticism can come from a destructive critic. But I do question those whose so called ministry is to expose error, because it tends to be selective. In other words they will normally do it in the camp they do not agree with instead of starting in their own camp. To me if you are really going to have a discernment ministry, start in your own life, then start in your own camp. That is why many of the books I have written deal with sin in my own camp. The Charismatic church. So, let's clean house here. In some cases it is straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel. If I am attacked for doing good, I rejoice. If I get slandered and maligned, my wife and I smile about it. But if I do something foolish, let's say God forbid I got nasty with a caller, that would be grievous to me. I would have to fix that immediately and publicly and try to reach out to that person and say that was wrong of me, that was not Christ-like. If I wrongly prophesied that Trump was going to have eight straight years in the White House, that is a grievous thing. How did I get it wrong? You better believe I am going to zip it and not just go on with the next prophecy. The next month and really try to get to the bottom of it - how did I get deceived etc." - Dr. Michael Brown

This is the latest schtick from Dr. Brown. First of all, let us deal with the nonsense that he takes on his own camp. He doesn't. What he does is he correctly points out many heretical teachings but then never applies it to any of his friends in the industry. That makes it all but useless. A perfect example is Joseph Prince. The only book Brown ever wrote that I am aware names names is the one on hyper grace and Prince was the name. I would give him total credit for finally being brave but then he flew to Singapore to meet the wolf and find common ground. So, when people properly criticize Brown for being a gatekeeper of false doctrine he points to his book on hyper grace and pretends he called out sin in his own camp. He just leaves out the part where he then had supper with the sin and found agreement. By the way for the record, Brown tribes off Charismania and sets cessationism/Calvinism as the "other camp." I am on record writing against the false theology of both cessationism and Calvinism. Those camps however do not have a media cesspool like Charisma News. Note here also the built in defense Brown has erected in his life to prevent any recognition of personal error. Anyone who criticizes him from outside his camp, which is the only place such critique would come, is automatically dismissed and laughed at. Way to grow Doc. It is sad that being nasty with a caller to a talk radio show would be grievous to him yet defending wolves is sacrosanct. Lastly here, note the central flaw to Charismatic views of prophecy. If someone prophesied, meaning they claim God told them, Trump would get eight straight years then they did not "get it wrong." God does not stutter. It means they lied, and they are false and they are not a prophet - period. Brown finishes this answer:

"So yes heresy hunting is dangerous in many ways and often is not even handed, does not use equal weights and measures, strains out a gnat to swallow a camel and often it is nasty, mean spirited and destructive and lacking in love and lacking in brokenness but the big problem in the Charismatic church is not heresy hunters but rather the lack of accountability." - Dr. Michael Brown

Only in the twisted Charismatic mind of Dr. Michael Brown can a wolf devouring sheep for forty years be characterized as making mistakes while those who cite the errors be considered nasty, mean-spirited and destructive. Wow. Do not lose sight of what Dr. Brown and Strang are advocating here. The love that is lacking according to them is for Benny Hinn, not for his victims. Brown then he goes back to discussing Hinn, who this interview was supposed to be about. He states that Hinn repented of his little gods heresy and the Jesus suffered in hell theology. Brown claims Hinn never taught these again. His history is so false I do not need to even corroborate this. He then states that Hinn repented of the prosperity gospel in 1993 but went on with the same flock fleecing until 2019 when he repented again, but then went on with the same flock fleecing. Brown states that he is not here to beat Hinn up, but people want fruit with repentance. So, in the very same sentence, Brown condemns Hinn and then exonerates him. How someone as learned as Dr. Brown cannot see the rank hypocrisy he speaks is staggering. If someone says they repent in 1993 but continues for another 26 years while building an empire worth 50 million dollars while doing so and then claims to repent again but continues doing so again, why are you not beating him up? Where is your concern for all the people's lives he destroyed? Where is your concern for the people who lost their savings or their house while Hinn jets around from mansion to mansion? You are darn right it is a lack of accountability and the person spearheading the lack is Dr. Michael Brown.

"The fact is that a lot of these charges against Benny Hinn could be leveled against a lot of different people. Right now Benny is kind of the one everyone is shooting at. It's hard to deal with I mean look at how Martin Luther messed up towards the end of his life and Amie Semple McPherson had a huge scandal in her day. Remember Jimmy Swaggart and of course his ministry bounced back. There are many things we can criticize, and you talk about the lack of accountability. Someone once said that sometimes the greatest strength is also the greatest weakness. One of the strengths of the Charismatic church has been our entrepreneurship. The fact that someone can start a ministry and people can follow and it can become huge. In denominations, that usually doesn't happen because they have too many restrictions and rules and all this. However, when you have a successful ministry that you built yourself and a lot of people follow you, you can become a law unto yourself because there are not elders although there is some kind of board for legal reasons but that doesn't always keep people on the straight and narrow." - Steven Strang

A favorite game of today's politics is whataboutisms. If you want to have a discussion about the strange Semple-McPherson kidnapping debacle or Martin Luther or Jimmy Swaggart, that is fine but not when we are in the middle of discussing Benny Hinn. It only serves to minimize and distract from what we are trying to wrestle with. Do not fall for the distraction. By the way, the board does not work at all because the pastor can manipulate the board selection process. When Mark Driscoll did not like some objections from his board at Mars Hill, he simply got rid of them and filled it with sycophants. It is quite telling that years later, even the sycophants were about to discipline him when he ran away in the middle of the night. The reason why people like Ravi Zacharias and Mike Bickle could have gotten away with decades of abuse is because boards do not work because they are subservient to the cult of personality pastors set up in the Purpose Driven Church model. Strang now finally gets around to promoting Hinn:

"My opinion on Benny is he genuinely loves Jesus, he says this himself. He has also done somethings that he felt was necessary to repent of and I am wanting the body of Christ to understand how we should do this and maybe we can pivot a little bit and talk about how other ministries, you know there are ministries that use these fund-raising tactics and why do they do it? It works! I've attended churches where they take the offing at the front of the church and if they don't get enough they take another offering. Now, some of that is kinda cultural but also they found if they take several offerings they get the money they need. Part of it is people respond to this kind of pressure. People don't respond to that as much as they used to. Even some of the TV networks don't do fundraising the way they used to." - Steven Strang

He says it himself? Well, that ought to settle it. Oh wait, Ravi said he loved Jesus. Bickle said he loved Jesus. Ted Haggard said he loved Jesus while having sex with a male prostitute and doing crystal meth. Brian Houston said it while driving blackout drunk. Carl Lentz said it while sleeping with his nanny in his wife's bed. What is absolutely amazing here is that Strang thinks it is ok to bully the sheep and shake them down because it works? If you do not get enough giving to match your vision, then your vision is not from God - period. There is a biblical word for pastors who demand second offerings because the first take was too low - hirelings. And for the love of everything holy stop pretending Benny Hinn has ever repented! Dr. Brown just got done saying he never repented! It is not "cultural" to accept being robbed. Brown responds:

"Number one there are proper ways for us to have accountability in our ministries, if we want to. In other words, we don't have to be lone rangers. We can have a solid board that really watches, or you ask for outside oversight, from other respected leaders and if something is amiss someone could come to them with a concern. Look, anyone with any Internet platform today is going to have someone attacking them, saying all kinds of crazy things. Like I say, I spot things or people send them to me and you just have to laugh when you read them. I have accountability in my life, first and foremost with my wife who calls me out on the carpet for anything that falls short of the standard. Beyond that we need to have people to say, hey that was not right or hey the way that offering was taken was not right we need to fix that." - Dr. Michael Brown

I will grant Brown the benefit of the doubt and assume he was tongue in cheek about his wife being his accountability, but it really does highlight the problem with Brown's argument. The people church leaders use for faux accountability is essentially the same thing as your wife. It is someone who is entirely subjective to the leader. Someone you can just laugh away any serious criticism of. Mike Bickle's board was trying to save him right up until the point that his victims turned out to be children. Then only Strang was left defending him. Respected leaders? IHOP refuses to even allow an independent investigation. Please. Now, Dr. Brown recalls the mess that happened when he chose to go on Benny Hinn's television show for a week.

"Let's use Benny Hinn as an example. I had heard all sorts of crazy things throughout the years. Then a grad from our ministry school got to know him and traveled with him and he said, Dr. Brown I think you guys should get to know him. He is really a rock-solid believer who loves the Lord, loves holiness and discipleship. Then I was invited to be on his TV show, and I thought, let me start with a clean slate. By the way, I wish I didn't do it. It was probably the biggest mistake I have made in terms of a public ministry decision because of the amount of flack that came my way and other things came out of it. But I thought let me start with a clean slate here. We hung out before the show, and it was wonderful. Fellowshipping around the word and Jesus. It was beautiful. He had a childlike kind of faith and excitement. Then we did four days of interviews on messianic prophecies and things like that. They were great shows in terms of content. Really good word-based content." - Dr. Michael Brown

I want to make sure we do not gloss over this. Dr. Brown had heard all sorts of crazy things about Hinn and his doctrine but apparently was willing to wipe all of that away at the word of a graduate of his bogus ministry school. Wow again. This highlights however the standard Brown employs for evaluating all potential false teachers. If he knows them, he excuses them based on that knowledge. He does not learn when blindsided by Ravi Zacharias. He does not learn when blindsided by Mike Bickle. Because some random graduate toured with Hinn on his private jet and listened to Benny assure him how much he loves Jesus, Brown adopts the notion that he must be a rock-solid believer and lover of holiness, of all things. The speculation back then was Brown did the appearances simply to sell his books to Hinn's massive audience of followers. Never mind the decades worth of false prophecies, teachings and fleecings - their brief time backstage was wonderful. Aww, ugh. Childlike faith and excitement? Was it because he knew he could leverage Dr. Brown's credibility to fleece even more money? We would soon find out.

"The reason I accepted the interviews was on the last day I was going to do a show on hyper grace, and I thought even if I catch some flak for being on his show, I want to reach his audience and talk about the dangers of hyper grace. We did the interview, and it went well but then for a couple of strategic reasons he decided not to air that show. I had told everyone make sure you tune in the last day and what is it? A fund raiser with Steve Muncy. Another corrupt fundraising thing and I could not believe it. The amount of flack I got from the Charismatic body indicated to me how wild and crazy things were. Subsequent to that he had a guy on, a so-called prophet, Brian Cairns, and he does this fund-raising thing where if you send in $500 your family will be spared from a natural disaster coming later that year. Of course, it never happened but what a corrupt, manipulative ungodly, sick thing to do. Now I am guilty by association. So, I wrote to him with honor and respect and urged him - please repudiate this. Let me work with you to bring reformation to the Charismatic movement in terms of fundraising and finances. This is corrupt. This is terrible and I've gotten severe attacks for even being on the air with you." - Dr. Michael Brown

Even though we are many years removed, Dr. Brown cannot bring himself to be honest about this. He has to provide cover for Hinn. Strategic decision? Are you serious? Look at how Hinn played Dr. Brown. How he used him. Brown wanted to do a show on hyper grace and Hinn turned the week with Brown into yet another bogus fundraiser that included a $500 protection racket. Guilty by association? You're darn right Dr. Brown. That is the point. That is why you do not share the stage with wolves. Did Benny write you back? Did he right the wrong? Or did he use you to fleece the flock once again and pocket the money on the back of your crumbling reputation? Yet still, after all of this, you insist on providing him cover and defending him. Strategic indeed. Brown would continue to go off the rails:

"So now, Benny Hinn has said he shouldn't have worked with some people. Ok, let's name them. I shouldn't have worked with Mike Murdock. I shouldn't have worked with Todd Coontz. I shouldn't have worked with Steve Muncy. I shouldn't have worked with Brian Cairn. The fundraising was corrupt and sinful and wrong and I repent of it. I want you to know, all the money is accounted for. How it was used, for the gospel but I regret the way it was raised. Or if it was raised for personal enrichment that has to be fixed." - Dr. Michael Brown

This is just absurdly disgusting. Benny Hinn is not a child. He is not a victim here. It was HIS TV show! He chose to book these people! He chose to partner with these people! What gospel is Brown talking about! Benny Hinn's entire ministry has been false prophecies, fake healings, and robbing the people of God! Benny Hinn is not different than Murdock, Coontz and Muncy. In fact, they were not even in Hinn's league. Murdock was only worth about six million. Todd Koontz is in federal prison for tax evasion and Cairns is but a blip compared to the 50 million dollar man. Beloved, just look at how many camels Brown and Strang have to swallow to strain out the gnat that is Benny Hinn! False prophet for forty years? Check! False teacher? Well, he says he stopped teaching some of those pesky doctrines like little gods and the holy ghost machine gun. Unscrupulous fundraising? Nah, that was just "strategic." Any mention of his victims? Any consideration for the devoured sheep? Not a peep. Brown actually suggests here that Hinn spend a day with Mike Winger, who did the four-hour documentary and share his heart. I can't tell if this is genuine delusion or just gas lighting. Hinn exhausted nearly every legal avenue he could to try and get the documentary removed for fair rights violations. He never would have even called Strang to interview if he was successful. Brown now reveals even more problems with is stance on false teachers:

"I've gotten attacks because I have said to my knowledge, Benny Hinn is a believer. People furious with me, flipping out - how can I possibly say that? Well, to my knowledge what he believes and with my time with him, he is a believer but I have issues with XYZ. You know I met with Joseph Prince in Singapore because he was as the main focus of my book on hyper grace and we outlined these are the things we do agree about holiness. These are the things we do agree about grace. These are the things we recognize as counterfeit grace. And the other things are issues that we have. To me that was constructive to sit and have the conversation." - Dr. Michael Brown

Dear Lord, can Dr. Brown truly be this obtuse? This 25-minute interview revealed the depths of depravity for Benny Hinn, while trying to cover them up. Brown even shared how Hinn lied to him, used him, and bilked people out of money by using him, yet to your knowledge he is a believer? By what metric? What fruit have you revealed that is not rotten to the core? This is what is so maddeningly frustrating about dealing with Dr. Michael Brown. The first time I was on his radio show he called Joseph prince a "good brother in the Lord who has some holes in is theology." Yet in his book on hyper grace Prince was the chief antagonist. So, which is it? Both, in the tortured mind of Dr. Brown. After writing truthfully about the massive error Prince preaches, Brown hopped on a plane to Singapore to sit down with the wolf and find common ground. In his mind, the dead guy, the guy in federal prison and the guy who demanded $500 or the hurricane would kill your family are the real bad guys but the guy who invited them all on his television show and directly benefitted from them was just being "strategic" and has "repented." Well, repented again. And again. And again. When asked the final question by Strang of what we can learn from the Benny Hinn kerfuffle, Brown again talked about everything but Benny Hinn:

"The same spotlight before God is on all of us. Benny Hinn might have a bigger platform but in God's eyes we are all under a holy spotlight. Where we have blown it, get things right with God and if we have to get things right with people, do it. All of us have blown it on some level. A word, a thought, somewhere. I've had to repent many times. I have had to ask people's forgiveness. Don't be afraid to get low. Get washed. Get cleansed. Move on and then it is done. I don't listen to the accuser of the brethren - "well 30 years ago you said something you shouldn't have said or you did something stupid." No no, everything is cleaned and dealt with before the Lord. Although I wish I never made mistakes through my 50 years walking with the Lord I wouldn't be who I am without walking through those mistakes and humbling myself." - Benny Hinn

Of course, we all should be low before the Lord, but this answer is non-responsive. I did not fleece God's flock for fifty million dollars. I did not wave my suit coat pretending it healed people. I did not pretend to hear from God and wreck the faith of many. That was Benny Hinn. And please, please, if you do not understand the verses about the accuser of the brethren, stop wielding them like a cudgel. My pointing out the scope and depth of the falseness of Benny Hinn does not make me Satan, who is the accuser of the brethren. Benny Hinn is not my brethren. He cannot repent because he has never borne any fruit of any initial repentance. He is a low hanging fruit huckster that the bible specifically warns us about. He has brought into the body of Christ destructive heresies that lead to Christ being blasphemed. In his greed he has exploited untold numbers of people and Dr. Michael Brown and Steven Strang do not appear to care about any of them. Rejoice beloved. For the destruction of such wolves are not asleep. Their own condemnation is never idle. Despite the attempts by people like Brown and Strang to strategically launder the wolves' reputations through the tattered remains of their own credibility.

Reverend Anthony Wade - May 14, 2024

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.