A biblical examination of the attack on religion being undertaken by the experiential church in America.

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Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. -- 1Peter 5: 8 (ESV)

There has been an ongoing campaign against the religion of Christianity. It does not come from the world beloved. It comes from the church. As the end times grow thicker, we see the mass proliferation of false doctrines that have become more and more brazen in their disregard for Scripture and for abusing what God has said. The only way to get away with it is to sprinkle some piety dust on their verbiage and attack anyone who wields the Bible as being "religious" or having a "religious spirit." This is a common refrain from people like Bill Johnson, Mike Bickle, Charisma News and the false bands of prophets emerging from the NAR; just to name a few. To them everything is about experience and a sense of relationship. I have dealt with many of these folks and can tell you that there is no point in having a lucid biblical discussion with them. They always take any Biblical criticism as trying to put God in a box. The truth beloved is that God created the box and it is called doctrine. He did so for a very good reason. The human heart is the most wickedly deceitful thing known to man. When we rely upon our experience, no matter how much we spiritualize it, we are in fact relying upon our heart which will always lie to us. The Word of God however never lies. It never changes. It transcends all time and culture. Make no mistake about it. That is what this argument has always been about. Man has always wanted to be God. It is the very sin that Lucifer was cast out of heaven for and the very sin he then tempted Eve into transgression with. Now the hyper-spiritualists are pushing the same thing. Instead of saying, "surely God did not say" they are telling you to not even worry about what He has said in that old dusty book. Come get some fresh revelation! Except it is not fresh. It is rancid and not from God. The word religion was ordained by God. He wrote it in His Word. Cast aside what God has instituted at your own risk beloved. At your own peril. I say this as the backdrop of a new article on Charisma News by someone named Dawn Hill. To be honest I do not know Dawn Hill and have never heard of her. This article however could have been written by Bill Johnson. It is entitled, "Why the Devil Wants to Fill the Church With Lion Tamers ." Let us reason together and see the game plan of the hyper-spiritualists at work in attacking the religion of Christianity.

"As I glanced around the room this past Sunday morning, I saw bodies prostrate in the altar, and I heard the cries and the worship of those pressing into the Lord. The service had taken a different course as the Holy Spirit manifested in our midst through us. I remained kneeling on the floor, pouring out my adoration to God, and grateful to be in such a place where He is permitted to have His way. This is what happens when the lion is unleashed from within His people. This is what happens when lion tamers are abandoned." -- Dawn Hill

The first hallmark of the experiential hyper-spiritualist is the loss of control. This is always portrayed as a good thing. This is the same argument from the Toronto Blessing heresy, where people rolled around on the ground and barked like dogs. It is the same heresy from Brownsville that saw uncontrolled spasmodic shaking going on and blamed on the Holy Spirit. It is the same argument for the extreme theologies of drunk in the spirit, toking the Holy Ghost and of course the physically assaultive ministry of Todd Bentley. None of it is from God however. The Bible says that God is a God of order. For goodness sake, self-control is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit! Loss of control is not from God. The second hallmark we see here is the notion that God is somehow helpless without us. She was grateful to be in a place where God is permitted to have His way? Permitted? Are we serious here? Is there anywhere on the face of the earth that God is not sovereign over? The late Myles Munroe and Creflo Dollar both have preached that God cannot even operate on the earth without permission from us through prayer. How utterly blasphemous! Dawn Hill has now laid the groundwork for her argument and the central thesis is that the people lying on the ground rolling around and delving deeper into their "experience" are the lions. Those who would point out how unbiblical they are behaving? They are the lion tamers. She continues:

"The night before the service, I heard the words, "lion tamer" in my spirit. God directed me to the well-known story about David dancing with all his might before the presence of God while bringing the ark of the covenant to the city of David (2 Sam. 6). He reminded me that King David was part of the tribe of Judah, and he refused to keep the lion tame when in the presence of the Lord. David made no apologies to his wife afterward, despite her demeanor toward him. He knew how to handle lion tamers. God desires for us to learn something from David." -- Dawn Hill

I heard the words. God directed me. He reminded me. The third hallmark for this false teaching is direct revelation. You see the problem they have is real. The Bible speaks against everything they do and teach so to combat that they pretend that God told them directly -- bypassing the Word -- and thus adding to the Canon of Scripture. We see Joseph Prince, Bill Johnson and the like do this all the time. It is a core shtick we even see from the lesser known false prophets like Jennifer Leclaire. By claiming to get direct downloads from heaven, they try to mitigate the complete unbiblical nature of what they teach and represent.

The fourth hallmark is twisting the Bible. I do not blame them actually because they do not rely upon the Bible to begin with so it is of no surprise to me that they mishandle God's Word. They usually engage in what is called proof-texting. This is where they have already decided what they want to teach/preach on and they scour the Bible to find verse fragments or stories that they can leverage to make their point appear biblical. Since they were out of control, Dawn Hill remembers the story about David dancing with all his might and voila! Instant Biblical credibility! Except that is not what this story represents. Here are the verses in question:

And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn. 2Samuel 6: 14-15 (ESV)

This is problem when you engage in proof texting and it is the practice of too many of the new breed of preachers these days. Did David dance before the Lord? Yes. Does this mean that churches today should encourage rolling around on the floor, animal noises and uncontrolled body spasms? Of course not. Self-control beloved. Self-control. David's wife Michal was not a "lion tamer." That assertion is ridiculous. The issue she was complaining about was not the removal of clothing per se but the removal of David's "kingly" garments. She was not upset that David was dancing. Michal came from aristocracy. She was the daughter of King Saul. She apparently did not like the fact that David "lowered" himself to the level of "common" servants. I agree that God desires us to learn something from David but dancing is not one of those lessons. I am going to show you why from the very same story

And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, with songsand lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God. -- 2Samuel 6: 5-7 (ESV)

Wait a minute! They were celebrating and dancing and just as undignified as the later story! The Yet God was clearly more concerned with the manner of worship than the act itself. You see Uzzah was not supposed to touch the ark. God had ordained that only the Kohathites were allowed to transport the ark and Uzzah was not a Kohathite. Additionally, it was not meant to be transported on a cart but rather on the shoulders of the Kohathites by using poles. You may be saying what's the big deal? Uzzah was ordered by his king to do this and was only trying to prevent the ark from spilling onto the ground. Why couldn't God just be happy with the worship that was being offered? That seems to be the logic today as well with lion tamer teachings. They think that God should be happy with the authenticity of the person regardless of the manner in which they present themselves before the Lord. They think that their zeal or sincerity makes up for their blatant disobedience to the Word of God. They are dancing spiritually naked before the Lord and like Uzzah before them; they have no idea how offensive they are to God. Hill would continue:

"The lion tamers are ever present within the body of Christ, manifesting in different ways. Truthfully, we all have an issue wanting to tame the lion. Many step into a three-ring circus every week, taking their chair of dignity and complacency, content to keep the lion at bay. There is no passion for God or His presence. You may be wondering what chairs have to do with this. Chairs were used to tame natural lions. The chair legs caused a loss of focus. When we have no desire to press beyond our comfort zone, we lose focus of the One we are to adore." -- Dawn Hill

The fifth hallmark is that normal is labeled as regressive and the new normal is absurdity. Notice that Hill has now determined that dignity and complacency are synonyms. They most certainly are not. The implication is clear. To avoid complacency one must lose their dignity. This is of course supported by zero biblical texts but bringing the Bible into this discussion means I suffer from a religious spirit. The irony of the key verse is delicious here as Dawn Hill never considered that the image of the lion has not only been used positively. The enemy is depicted in the key verse as a roaring lion seeking the Dawn Hills of the world to devour. We see this in the silly notions proffered here. That if one remains in self-control that there is no passion for God or His presence and that we do not wish to leave our "comfort zone." No beloved. We do not wish to leave the confines of scripture because we know we can trust Scripture. We cannot trust the wickedly deceitful heart of Dawn Hill, or anyone else and that includes ourselves. What shows greater adoration for God? Lying on the ground shouting Jesus or studying His own Word to ensure we are being obedient? Let's allow Jesus Himself to answer:

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will bein you."I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?" Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. -- John 14: 15-24 (ESV)

Hmm; it doesn't seem that Jesus is teaching "radical worship" or enhanced theatrics. If you love me you will obey me. That seems pretty straightforward and what I love about these verses is the direct reference to the yet to come Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of Truth -- not the spirit of indignity. He will guide us into all truth contained in God's Word -- not drive us into the carpet at the local church building. Hill continues:

"Lion tamers also used whips in their circus acts, but it was all for theatrics. The Lord spoke to me about the whip and related it to our mouths. He showed me that many of us use our mouths like this whip. Our mouth should serve a purpose for Him, but many times, it is used for theatrics, a show. I am reminded of Matthew 15:8, "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me." What good is it to crack a whip when there is no heartbeat for God? The ultimate point of control and dominance in lion taming is in the act of placing one's head in the lion's mouth unharmed. This I believe is the pinnacle of a religious spirit. Jesus is the head of the church, and yet there are those who want to domesticate the lion, dominate Him and place their head in His mouth so that they can be the mouthpiece for the body. Without the leading of the Holy Spirit and the true head of the church, there is no power, and there is no revival. I want to challenge you today, do not fall into this trap." -- Dawn Hill

The Lord spoke this to you? Really? No Dawn, He most certainly did not. Your deceitful heart spoke this to you. You are reminded of Matthew 15:8? Perhaps you should have checked the context. Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees by quoting Isaiah. Specifically, He is rebuking them for making void the Word of God in favor of their traditions. You know, like you are advocating right now. Forget the Word! You need an experience! You are just complacent and dignified! You need a spiritual encounter! This is exactly what Jesus was speaking against when He quoted Isaiah saying they draw near to God with their mouth but their heart remains far away. You see the heartbeat of God is not found in losing oneself over to emotional manipulation. No beloved. The heartbeat of God is found in Scripture. Only Scripture can change someone's life. Only the Gospel has the power of God unto the salvation of men. So if you feel you must roll around on the floor just bring a Bible with you so that when you are done with your emotions you can actually turn to the Word and hear from the Lord.

The rest of this statement is just hyper-spiritual mumbo-jumbo. Placing one's head in the lion's mouth is the pinnacle of a religious spirit? What does that even mean? It is beyond stupid that someone who simply wishes to adhere to what God has already said in His Word is actually trying to domesticate Jesus. The power is in His Word beloved, not in some esoteric experience that is completely left up to our own subjectivity and lying hearts. Hill concludes in three parts:

"Religion is content to cage the lion. Authentic relationship with the Lord finds a way to unleash Him while operating in His order. As I think about King David and his lack of apology for being undignified, I wonder when we as the church will reach that state of being without apology for our radical love for the Lord. Lions do not apologize for being lions." -- Dawn Hill

This is such utter nonsense beloved. No one is trying to cage the lion and last time I checked God was God. We couldn't cage Him if we wanted to. In the one chapter we looked at from the life of King David, we saw him not apologize to his wife and Uzzah struck dead. People like Dawn Hill need to focus on the Uzzah story a bit more. Worship is a natural outpouring of love for God but how can we say we love Him while not obeying Him? As Jesus once lamented, why bother calling me Lord if you refuse to do what I say? David probably thought the cart was a safer way of transporting the ark; no big deal. Uzzah probably felt honored and never could have imagined the ark falling over onto the ground. His reaction to stop the ark from touching the ground was surely benevolent but the reaction from God sure wasn't. His intentions did not matter. His heart did not matter. His worship did not matter. All that mattered was his disobedience.

"When our concern for others' thoughts about our display of worship overrides God's desire to commune with us, we are under the influence of a lion tamer. When the lion comes on the scene in the absence of lion tamers, man's agenda is nowhere to be found. Submission to His presence is not an issue. Pure abandonment abounds, and Jesus is able to transform us from faith to faith and glory to glory. This is why the devil hates authentic revival, and he fights it through confinement." - Dawn Hill

What is Dawn Hill saying? That God cannot commune with us unless we are writhing on the floor? The truly sad thing is that she cannot see how what she is promoting is entirely man's agenda. How the behaviors she advocates for draw attention away from God and onto ourselves. We all know people like this. Traveling from one service to the next tent meeting. Constantly chasing the next big experience but never quite changing from any of it. A sense of godliness but denying the actual power of it. Beloved, God does not want abandonment! He said he did not leave us as orphans! In the mid-1990s there was the revival in Toronto which saw the same manifestations Dawn Hill is bragging about. By 2000 it was over. Everyone had their experience and went home. No one was revived. Shortly after that Brownsville saw the same manifestations and everyone exclaimed revival but there is nothing left today from that either except the disturbing videos of people clearly demon possessed and blaming it on God. A few years after that a tattooed biker showed up in Lakeland Florida punching and kicking people to impart healing and claiming it came from the Holy Spirit. The NAR thought it was such a great revival that they sent their top Apostle, Bill Johnson to anoint him with oil and commission him a prophet. He fell from grace the very next day for an affair with his secretary. God will not be mocked. The devil does not hate abandonment of reason and the safe confines of biblical truth. He welcomes it. He relishes it. Do not be fooled beloved. Lying on the ground does not make you spiritual. Allowing the indwelt Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth and illuminate the truths of Scripture does. Religion is not a dirty word. God ordained it. Yes there are useless religions and the Bible warns us what they are. So save your holy laughter, kundalini spirit, soaking prayer, gold dust, gem stones, angel feathers, glory clouds, sneaky squids, mantle coverings, shifting atmospheres, and the wickedly deceitful abandonment of the Word of God. I know that lion all too well. He is seeking whom he might devour but we can tame him through the only thing that has the power to do so -- the Word of Almighty God.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- June 27, 2017

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.