From the Editor: Traveling across long stretches of road between Illinois and New Jersey, I had time to think about all the different "winds of doctrine" I heard about on my travels. Therefore, it did seem of utmost importance to make books available dealing with some of these subjects. The Alpha Course is gaining popularity rapidly. Once Biblically sound ministers are following another Gospel. Church Growth seems to be the Pied Piper that is pulling many into a "paradigm shift". Why are so many unaware and unwilling to take a stand for truth? In a day when a call is being made for "unity", truth falls by the wayside. Truth divides. Shepherds are confused and unwilling to guard the sheep from the wolves that are set to devour the innocent. Many ministries have been placed on such a high pedestal that they are beyond question. It is certainly time that those who love the Lord and are looking forward to His Appearing come out and declare unequivocally the whole counsel of God. If there are members in your church that are dabbling in "new things", Pastors, check it out. There is no place for teachings such as TheoPhostic Counseling within the church of Jesus Christ. If church members actually think that Oprah Winfrey’s brand of spirituality is to be followed and Marianne Williamson is actually a "Christian" need to honestly read Reinventing Jesus Christ – The New Gospel. What has happened to The Blessed Hope of the Gospel? Where is solid preaching on sin, the blood of Christ and the Cross of our Savior? Could Satan be so evil as to actually try and deceive the Church? We need to know his devices and be ready to stand. Pastors need to be fully equipped as never before!

Jewel (van der Merwe) Grewe

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The New Apostolic Church

Anton Bosch

The Church Growth Movement, finds a champion in the form of author and theologian C. Peter Wagner, who has written copiously in praise of this movement. Although not an organized movement, it does represent a philosophy very prevalent amongst mega-churches. In The New Apostolic Churches(1) he publishes papers by 18 leaders of some of the biggest and most "successful" churches throughout the world. In his introduction to the book he summarizes their commonalities as well as reasons for their success. He has since published a more detailed analysis entitled Churchquake!

Wagner has only one measure for the blessing of God on a church and that is numerical growth.(2) This thinking flows from an incorrect exegesis of Acts 5:38 "And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; 39 "but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it--lest you even be found to fight against God."(3)

Some seem to feel that if words are contained within the canon of scripture it automatically makes them authoritative. Two of the rules of sound hermeneutics require that a part of scripture has to be read in its’ context. This requires that the source or author of a particular saying must be inspired. Secondly the part of scripture must be supported by the general or complete teaching of the Bible. Quotes from uninspired individuals speaking out of the context of the general teaching of the scriptures cannot be normative for the Christian. Thus the words "There is no God" (4) cannot be authoritative as it is not supported by the general teaching of the scriptures and it is spoken by the fool. This quote from Acts cannot be authoritative as it is spoken by Gamaliel an unregenerate rabbi and it is not supported by the general teaching of scripture.

Neither Old nor New Testament upholds numerical strength as a sign of, or a condition for God's blessing. On the contrary it is often the few that carry true divine blessing rather than the many. Jesus Himself spoke of the narrow gate and the few. (5) After Jesus powerfully anointed ministry on earth He left only 120 disciples.(6) Surely if numbers were a sign of God's approval He would have concluded His ministry with a large number of followers. Admittedly a large number of people were saved on the day of Pentecost and soon after(7), this however only occurred at the founding of the church and at no other occasion. Most of the churches in the book of Acts seem to have been much smaller than that of Jerusalem. If numbers are a sign of God's approval then surely Islam and the Roman church must be most blessed of all.

When numbers become the only measure of success, the door is opened for all sorts of evil. Doctrinal and moral purity become secondary as the end justifies the means. Thus for example he sites the growth of the African Independent Churches (AIC) as part of "...a pattern of divine blessing..."(8) This can never be, as much of the AIC is an evil marriage of New Testament, Old Testament, Ancestor Worship and witchcraft. It is syncretism at its worst which does not promote a New Testament form of Christianity.

Nine Common Components.

Based on this faulty premise, Wagner lists 9 components of this new move, which is shaping the church of the 21st century.(9)

1. A New Name.(10) At first Wagner seemed to favor the term "postdenominationalism" but as a result of pressure he

renamed it the "New Apostolic Reformation". The term "apostolic" is favored because it speaks of, what is claimed to be, one of the great moves of God in the latter days - the restoration of the apostolic and prophetic ministries. These apostles style themselves after men like Peter or Paul. They wield tremendous authority and apart from miracles and the right to dictate to their followers, often claim revelation that supersedes the scriptures.

He explains the second part of the title as follows: "I use "reformation" because, as I have said, these new wineskins appear to be at least as radical as those of the Protestant Reformation almost 500 years ago.(11)" I do not believe that the use of the word reformation is justified, as the reformers sought to return the church to biblical principles and to rid it of man-made tradition. This movement, however, seems to be moving away from Biblical principles and is establishing its own norms and tradition, many of which, are extra-biblical.

2. New Authority Structure.(12) By this he refers to the emphasis placed on leaders in these new groups. These groups are mostly headed by a single charismatic leader who often operates as a sovereign and whose authority is derived from his own dynamic personality. At times this authority is supported by prophecy emphasizing the need for submission to and the greatness of the leader. Pastor Lawrence Khong Faith Community Baptist Church in Singapore (8,000 members) attributes one of the main reasons for his success to the fact that they have "one strong and anointed leader"(13) Paul Daniel, founder and leader of His People Christian Ministries in South Africa unashamedly says that "The senior pastor of each His People churches exercises headship in the local church"(14). Wagner speaks of the move from the recognition of the ministry or gift of an apostle to the office of the apostle(15). Thus he has included a chapter by one who designates himself as "Apostle John Kelly"(16).

This leads to churches where believers have more of a relationship with the pastor or apostle than with the Lord Jesus Christ, where members can quote their leaders more than they can quote the scriptures and where leaders become so powerful that they are able to say, do and claim the most ridiculous things without being questioned.

3. New Leadership Training.(17) Under this heading Wagner highlights the fact that most leaders within these new churches have little or no theological training. Qualifications of upcoming ministry is based on personal relationships with incumbent leadership and proven skills. Some of these groups establish their own in-house Bible schools but very few seem to send their up-coming leaders to independent recognized seminaries. The argument that the pattern in the New Testament was not one of seminaries, but one of leaders training future leaders is compelling and strong(18). It however becomes a problem when the theological skills of the incumbent leaders are almost non-existent or even erroneous and this becomes the foundation of the next generation. Most preachers in these groups are notorious for their lack of hermeneutical integrity as they interpret scripture "by the leading of the spirit". Most of these leaders, as well as future leaders, could benefit their churches immeasurably by gaining solid Biblical training.

4. New Ministry Focus.(19). By this a distinction is drawn between those churches that are "heritage driven" and those that are "vision driven" Most evangelical churches share a common desire to recapture the essence of the life of the church as recorded in the New Testament. The New Apostolic Churches however feel that the past has very little of benefit and that the goal lies in the future. This leads to an emphasis on the "vision" with a constant expectancy of the "new thing" that God is about to do. This results in instability and a tendency to run after spiritual fads as each of these fads hold the potential of being God's next great move. Often solid Biblical traditions are frowned upon as "dead tradition" Paul however instructs the Thessalonians:

But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us. II Thess. 3:6

Jude emphasizes the completeness of that which has been delivered to us:

... exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints Jude 3

5. New Worship Style(20). The different style of worship is probably the component most visible to someone who comes from a more traditional church, and yet, it is also the one component that has most deeply penetrated historic and traditional pentecostal churches. It is often the aspect of a church that will attract members to a particular church. Wagner shows how the worship team replaces the traditional musicians, hymnals are replaced by overhead projectors, organs are superseded by keyboards and percussive instruments and fifteen minutes of singing is replaced by an hour of "praise and worship"(21).

More significant than the changes in style and mode of worship is the philosophy behind this new worship. In traditional Christianity worship had one purpose and that was to worship God. In the New Apostolic Churches worship serves many purposes of which the worship of God is but one. It serves as a basis of bringing God's presence into the meeting, as God inhabits the praises of His people(22). It also serves the purpose of creating a platform or the right environment in which people can receive the teaching of the word. Worship is also used to "do spiritual warfare". One argument says that as demons are spirits and they occupy the air around us, every time the church raises its hands, demons are being "hit". Waving arms and banners chase demons away(23). It is fairly obvious to the diligent student that none of these were part of the original intent of worship.

6. New Prayer Forms.(24) Here Wagner extols the greater amount of time spent in many new forms of prayer. These include praise marches, prayer walking, prayer journeys and prayer expeditions. What he does not say is that the emphasis on prayer is based on the wrong premise. It is mostly based on the modern teachings of spiritual warfare and of "the word of faith". Under the guise of spiritual warfare, the responsibility to defeat demons, chase them out of a particular area so that the work of the church is not hindered, bind demons and loose angels lies with the church. This is achieved by doing spiritual warfare. The "word of faith" teaching emphasizes the creative power of the spoken word. As God spoke and the earth and it's fullness was created, so our words have power to create or to destroy. Unlike in orthodox prayer, where the prayer is directed to God, in these churches the prayers are often directed at the Devil, demons, circumstances or even inanimate objects. Instead of speaking about praying to the Lord, they will speak of praying into a situation. None of this has any biblical foundation.

7. New Financing. (25) Wagner describes money in these churches as "abundant"(26) He gives three reasons for this abundance of finance in comparison to "traditional churches". Firstly tithing and giving is not only taught without apology, but believers are made to feel that their Christianity is not up to standard if they do not give. Secondly believers are taught that giving is not only because the church needs the money to function, but also the giver will receive an abundant harvest of more money, because of the seed he has sown in his giving. Thirdly giving is cheerful and sometimes loud cheering and even laughter accompany the time of giving.

From a more objective view however, much of the emphasis on giving can be seen as too much emphasis on money and seems to highlight a very materialistic view of Christianity. Almost all of the 18 contributors to the book talk about money. Most will quote various aspects of their budget in millions of dollars as evidence of God's blessing. The taking of the collection takes a significant chunk out of the time allocated for their services. It is not uncommon for the collection and the attendant mini-sermon on giving to last between 20 and 30 minutes. This can often surpass the amount of time allocated to the preaching of the word. Tele-evangelism, an extension of these churches is also marked by its emphasis on money. These preachers blatantly speak of their books, tapes and other services as "products" - drawing little distinction between what they sell and what the commercial world sells. They use the same words and systems to induce buying and giving as worldly telemarketers do. Paul Daniel of His People Christian Ministries (South Africa) writes: "Managing our corporate identity and how we present ourselves to the community is very important in terms of our public relations".(27) The church no longer follows in the footsteps of its founder who had no place to lay His head - it has become big business in

which money and corporate identity are major aspects of its operations.

The emphasis on money has an even bigger impact on these churches in the way in which it has altered the very core of the faith of its members. It has affected the preaching. Not only are some of their preachers such as Creflo Dollar able to preach money and prosperity from almost any verse in the Bible, much of the preaching is in an attempt to stroke the members in order to keep them happy in the denomination and to keep them giving. Some of these preachers do not hesitate to use the misfortune of their followers to milk even more money from them, as they teach that giving will release healing, anointing and God's provision for financial problems. These preachers will not hesitate to warn about the dangers of not giving enough and often use examples of people who were not healed, faced financial ruin etc because they did not give. This message has also resulted in a generation of Christians who believe that spirituality and God's blessing can be measured in terms of money and that God's blessings can be bought with money.

8. A New Outreach.(28) Under this heading Wagner speaks about church planting and social outreach programs. It is the mission of these churches to be "apostolic" in vision and to be reaching out to areas where they are not represented. Many of them also run multi-million dollar social responsibility programs through shelters and feeding schemes.

The philanthropic work of these groups is difficult to judge, as the motives behind these works of charity cannot be gauged with accuracy. In a number of cases however the church will speak of their multimillion-dollar food distribution program, when in fact the cost to the church is a fraction of the total budget. They will not hesitate to solicit money, expired foodstuffs, transport etc from secular organizations - often from unbelievers. While their zeal for the needy is to be commended, the taking of money from unbelievers and governmental organizations cannot be reconciled with the modus operandi of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The planting of new churches is also difficult to measure in the absence of objective statistics. Judging by observations in KwaZulu-Natal however, many of the so-called church plants are simply take-overs of existing churches. Traditional Pentecostal churches have lost significant numbers of their congregations and properties to New Apostolic Churches. Other evangelical churches and even traditional churches have not been spared. The second source of new churches is splits and divisions within established churches. Only the third, and by far the smallest, source of new church plants is true missionary activity where a worker or team will work in an unreached area and by evangelism and making disciples, begin to establish a new church.

9. New Power Orientation.(29) This describes the emphasis on the Holy Spirit and the supernatural. The Holy Spirit is actively invited into the meetings and worship and prayer is directed to the Holy Spirit. These churches do not only believe that all the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the New Testament are still operative today, but that there are many more manifestations that are not mentioned in the scriptures. This is all justified and encouraged under the cover of "... the works that I do he will do also; and greater [ works ] than these he will do, because I go to My Father." (30) Wagner offers the following (partial) list of manifestations of the Spirit: "... healing, demonic deliverance, spiritual warfare, prophecy, falling in the Spirit, spiritual mapping, prophetic acts, fervent intercession and travail, and soon ...".(31) To this can be added holy laughter, animal sounds, dancing in the spirit, being drunk in the spirit etc. These manifestations are often

used as part of the total strategy to grow the churches. Believers are taught to expect and even to demand the supernatural in every meeting. Some of these churches and ministries are built almost exclusively on such manifestations. Names such as Benny Hinn, Reinhard Bonke and TB Joshua spring to mind as men who have built their ministry and following on the supernatural.

Although it is not within the scope of this section of this work to examine whether or not the spiritual gifts mentioned in the New Testament continue today or not, serious questions have to be raised as to whether the modern versions of such gifts accurately reflect the manifestations of those gifts in the New Testament and whether the Holy Spirit will manifest His power in ways not taught in the New Testament.

For example, is what passes as prophecy today, the same as what was understood as prophecy in the New Testament? I would suggest not. Modern prophecy is more akin to fortune telling than the inspired utterance intended in the scriptures. Although we have two instances of foretelling in the New Testament, both involving Agabus(32), this does not seem to have been the main intention of prophecy. Paul clearly states that prophecy was to be "...to edification, and exhortation, and comfort"(33). Modern churches also accept a very high rate of error from their prophets. Bob Jones, one such prophet says that the general level of accuracy of prophets at 65%, but in some instances it is as low as 10%(34). Examples of patently misleading and wrong predictions, even from their most experienced prophets abound(35). Scripture however demands 100% accuracy(36).

Prophecy that is contrary to the plain teaching of the scriptures or that supersedes scripture can also not to be attributed to the Holy Spirit. Yet modern prophets will often speak extra-biblically or speak contrary to the scriptures and claim that the Holy Spirit has revealed to them more than was previously revealed to the New Testament apostles and prophets. Each of the modern manifestations of biblical gifts must be measured against biblical criteria. On this basis much of what passes as gifts of the Spirit, have to be rejected.

Manifestations that are extra-biblical such as most of what passed as the "Toronto Blessing" and the "Pensacola Revival", must be rejected out of hand simply because not only are these manifestations not in the Bible, they often go against biblical principles. Thus the emphasis on hilarity and

laughter is contrary to the, at least, 15 injunctions to sobriety in the New Testament. These manifestations can also be measured by their lack of fulfillment of promises. Both Toronto and Pensacola promised sweeping worldwide revival. Neither was able to deliver. If these were genuine works of the Holy Spirit - comparable or exceeding the day of Pentecost, surely, the world would have been impacted visibly.

The church growth movement may certainly be building big congregations, control large fortunes and have increasing influence on politics and society. Whether it complies with the Lord Jesus' intentions for His Church is open to debate. I do not deny that individual lives may be positively affected, but also suspect that much harm has been done to individuals as well as to small churches that have been seduced into chasing statistics instead of just being what God made them to be in the first instance.

Footnotes

(1) Wagner, C Peter. 1998. The New Apostolic Churches. Regal Books. Ventura. (2) Ibid p16 (3) Acts 5:38,39 (4) Psalm 14:1 (5) Math 7:14 (6) Acts 1:20 (7) Acts 2:41, Acts 4:4 (8) Wagner, C Peter. 1998. The New Apostolic Churches. Regal Books. Ventura. p17 (9) Ibid p18 (10) Ibid pp18, 19 (11) Ibid p18 (12) Ibid p19 (13) Ibid p221 (14) Ibid p234 (15) Ibid p20 (16) Ibid pp29-44 (17) Ibid p20 (18) 2Tim 2:2 (19) Wagner, C Peter. 1998. The New Apostolic Churches. Regal Books. Ventura. p21 (20) Ibid p22 (21) Ibid p22 (22) Psalm 22:3 (23) Meyer, Joyce. 11/07/02. Protected by God's presence. Trinity Broadcast Network. (24) Wagner, C Peter. 1998. The New Apostolic Churches. Regal Books. Ventura.p23 (25) Ibid p23 (26) Ibid p23 (27) Ibid p235 (28) Ibid p24 (29) Ibid p25 (30) John 14:12 (31) Wagner, C Peter. 1998. The New Apostolic Churches. Regal Books. Ventura.p25 (32) Acts 11, Acts 21 (33) 1Cor 14:3 (34) Randles, Bill. 1994. The New Prophets. Plumbline Publishing. Pietermaritzburg. p65 (35) Ibid (36) Deut 13:1-3, 18:22

Nicky Gumbel, creator of the modern Alpha Course currently sweeping America’s churches, is due to speak at John Arnott’s Catch the Fire conference next year. Arnott still leads the Toronto Airport church that gave us the "Toronto Blessing" (TB), and Gumbel’s church was arguably the prime British center for dispensing the Toronto spirit. Exactly how old, and how close, are the ties between the Alpha Course and the folk that gave us TB? This superbly researched article takes us behind the scenes to reveal the true spirit of today’s Alpha.

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THE POWERS BEHIND THE

ALPHA COURSE

By Elizabeth McDonald and Dusty Peterson

Alpha is exploding in America. In the last year alone the number of courses running in the U.S. has leapt by over 90%.1 But Alpha comes from a single Episcopal Fellowship in England, thus not all American churches looking at the Course are familiar with its roots. (The fact that almost all references to the spiritual roots of Alpha have been removed from present editions of the talks obviously does not help!) These details prove to be immensely important when considering Alpha…

Pre-History. Although the Alpha Course has been in existence since 1977, the modern version originated in the early nineties through Nicky Gumbel – a curate at Holy Trinity Brompton church (‘HTB’). Gumbel is a qualified barrister, but he apparently attributes his powerful gift for communication to an extraordinary single event in 1982. The following account by Gumbel is lengthy but also very interesting:

"[A] man called John Wimber came to speak at the church … [after the talk] a very nice American came over [to me] and said … "Well, is there anything else that you would like us to pray for?" So I said, "Well, what I would really like to pray for is the power of the Spirit in my life" … After he had been praying for about 30 seconds, all I can say is I felt this incredible power - it was like 10,000 volts … going through my body. In fact, it was so powerful that after a bit I couldn’t take it any more but I think he had only just got onto the ministry team because he only had one prayer and it was "More power, Lord!" And every time he prayed this prayer, the power increased! So after a bit I couldn’t take it any longer and I started praying against him! I started saying, "No more power, Lord!" But he carried on praying, "More power, Lord!" So eventually there was this shouting match going on in the middle of the room. John Wimber … said, "Take that one out!" So they carried me out through the French windows! And as I was being carried out John Wimber said, "God is giving to that man power to tell people about Jesus Christ". And I have often looked back at that as a very significant moment in my life."2

As we shall see, this experience did indeed have a substantial and lasting impact on Gumbel. It should be noted that all of his work on the Alpha Course has taken place since that event. Let us now step forward to the early days of his Alpha labours.

TORONTO HITS. Gumbel received what looks a lot like the Toronto spirit more than a decade before Toronto itself did, and he jumped at the chance to promote ‘TB’ when it arrived on the scene. He immediately modified the Alpha talks to incorporate, among other things, the following well-known testimony of how Eleanor Mumford, of South-West London Vineyard, channeled ‘the Blessing’ to HTB through him:

3"Ellie Mumford told us a little bit of what she had seen in Toronto4 … then she said ‘Now we’ll invite the Holy Spirit to come’ and the moment she said that, one of the people there was thrown, literally, across the room5 and was lying on the floor, just howling and laughing … making the most incredible noise … I experienced the power of the Spirit in a way I hadn’t experienced for years, like massive electricity going through my body"6

Gumbel went straight from Mumford’s house to a staff meeting at HTB. He was asked to close the meeting in prayer and the effect was that "the Spirit came on the people who were in the room. One of them started laughing like a hyena ..."7 As a result of this, Eleanor Mumford was invited to speak at HTB the following Sunday and preached at both the morning and evening meetings.8 Pro-Alpha writers recorded the various ‘TB’ manifestations that occurred at both services.9

HTB then passed the ‘TB’ onto elders of many UK churches through Alpha training courses; and myriad other churches flew people to Toronto to get ‘it’ direct. Thereafter, Alpha’s popularity rocketed. That Gumbel links this to Toronto is clear. During Toronto’s height he wrote: "I believe it is no coincidence that the present movement of the Holy Spirit [i.e. the ‘TB’] has come at the same time as the explosion of the Alpha Courses. I think the two go together".10

And so did many other big names. The number of ‘TB’ supporters who have openly praised Alpha is substantial. A handful of the more famous examples in the U.S. or U.K. are: Mike Bickle11, Gerald Coates, Jack W. Hayford, Ken Gott, Tony Campolo,12 Roger Forster, Bill Hybels, and Mark Stibbe. Even C. Peter Wagner has called Alpha "wonderful" and says he "enthusiastically supports" it.13 Apart from Wimber14 and Mumford, ‘TB’ promoters who have spoken at HTB include: John Arnott (twice), Coates, Leighton Ford, and Stibbe, among many others. See HTB’s tape list for more.

EDITION TWO. Did Gumbel change the essence of the Course when Alpha was revamped again during the late nineties? Apparently not - for we were personally assured by an HTB spokesman that Alpha’s doctrines hadn’t altered in any way. Indeed, the "10,000 volts" testimony with which this article opened came from these newer videos, and Gumbel is still offering manifestation testimonies from other people like: "‘I experienced electric shocks of love. I found myself flat on the floor…’"15

When you consider the actual testimonies cited by Gumbel, or those reported in Alpha publications, it seems a purely cosmetic change that he now says the Holy Spirit is "not something that takes people over. The gifts of God are never like that. You can start when you want, and you can stop when you want".16 Alpha resources irreconcilably disagree with this, including Gumbel’s own videos.17

TODAY. The Alpha talks are constantly being made subtler in order to lead more churches into receiving the spirit that comes with Alpha. Thus the more amazing references to mindless or drunken behaviour have been culled. This still does not represent any change of doctrine however. Nicky continues to say "Imagine being with Jesus. What fun it would have been!"24 and "Think what fun it would have been to go to a party with Jesus".25 The effect of Gumbel’s words are unaltered, and his new books reflect the same ‘TB’ views. Hence the 2001 edition of Gumbel’s book 30 Days informs us: "[A] party … This is a picture of the Christian life … Don’t miss out on the party";26 and "[The] Early Christians … had fun together … A home group should be … a place of laughter".27

Although there is certainly evidence that the more severe and disturbing manifestations taking place during Alpha Courses are being kept out of Alpha publications, presumably in order to encourage anti-TB churches to accept Alpha, nevertheless the latest testimonies still look far more like those from ‘TB’ rather than those from the Bible. The following are all from different stories in the Jul/Oct. 2002 edition of Alpha News:

"The Holy Spirit just fell on these … tough operational duty soldiers and they were just shaking and bowled over … It was like electricity went through the whole room and went through these fellows" [p9]; "We both received the Holy Spirit together with such power that our bodies literally shook" [p27]; "As they prayed I could feel something go through me" [p27]. "The Holy Spirit came into me … My chest was up in the air – like I was being pulled up. It was very powerful. I was panting and couldn’t breathe properly. I was coughing … I think I was there 45 minutes later, still coughing and panting. I don’t know how long it was. It came to a point where I started saying to myself ‘Enough now’. It was like the power was so intense that I couldn’t take anymore" [p33].28

But what of the type of people who were behind ‘TB’? Has Alpha’s position there changed? Not a bit. Gumbel’s Alpha News still advertises John Arnott conferences,29 and ones involving Rick Joyner, Francis Frangipane and Jack Deere – Deere was the theologian for ‘TB’.30 Gumbel has also signed up to speak at Arnott’s next ‘Catch the Fire’ conference.31

Randy Clark got the spirit behind ‘TB’ from Hagin’s Word-Faith church and was the one who passed ‘it’ to Arnott. And Rodney Howard-Browne, the pioneer of Toronto’s laughing revival, was a member of Hagin’s Word-Faith church in South Africa. We would therefore argue that the Word-Faith movement is key to the spirit behind ‘TB’ and Alpha. Sure enough, Alpha’s teachings frequently lean towards the Word-Faith line. (See our book for details.) And sure enough Gumbel promotes Word-Faith leaders,32 events33 and enterprises.34 He is now working in concert with one of the ‘Faith’ movement’s leading lights – Robert Schuller of the Crystal Cathedral.35

CONCLUSION

Alpha’s roots are inextricably entwined with those of ‘TB’ and its proponents. In fact, Alpha is simply continuing Toronto’s work. But U.S. churches could be forgiven for not being aware of these links, since every reference to the words ‘Mumford’ and ‘Toronto’ were scrubbed from the Alpha talks before the Course was launched in America, and since HTB plays down her links with the more obviously problematic ‘TB’ and ‘Faith’ proponents.

Churches interested in Alpha really need to investigate it properly. You will find that our book Alpha – the Unofficial Guide: Overview has done all the legwork for you. In the meantime, you may want to consider prayerfully copying this article to any brothers you know of who rejected Toronto and who might find it of use.36 May God bless you.
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1  See Alpha News #28 (5300 courses) compared with #25 (2800 courses). This is an increase of 52.7%. (All quotations from Alpha News in this article are taken from the UK editions unless otherwise stated.)

2  Talk 13. (In this article, all quotations from Alpha talks are from the official HTB transcripts released in the summer of the year 2000 unless otherwise stated. Also, all emphases are our own unless otherwise stated.)

3  Details of Mumford receiving the ‘TB’ are given in Dave Roberts’ book The Toronto Blessing, (1994), pp10-11. An account by herself of her visit is given in Wallace Boulton Ed., The Impact of Toronto, (1994), pp17-19.

4 Does God throw his children across the floor? According to Gumbel it is normal, for he elsewhere approvingly quotes this testimony: "‘While they were praying for him he was cast down to the ground as if someone had hurled him violently to the earth. Groaning and sobbing his whole body shaking, so that he could not speak’" [Talk 13].

5  Talk 9, Edn. 1.

6  Ibid.

7  Tapes of Mumford preaching at HTB that day are still available. ("The Coming of the Holy Spirit", tapes 1 and 2, dated 29th May 1994.) A substantial proportion of her evening talk, along with a description of what followed it, is given in the ‘Holy Trinity Brompton’ chapter of A History of the Revival of 1992-1995, by Richard Riss. See www.grmi.org/Richard_Riss/ history/htb.html for an electronic version of this.

8  "Mumford spoke at the morning service … at the end, she prayed for the Holy Spirit to come … [M]embers of the congregation began to … laugh … [P]eople began to fall … Soon the whole church was affected. There were scenes that few had ever seen before … At the evening service the scenes were repeated…" (The Impact of Toronto, p21); "Mumford asked the congregation to stand while she prayed … Immediately people began to laugh hysterically, weep, shake, jerk, bark and roar" (The Toronto Blessing, p13, as quoted in Roger Oakland, New Wine or Old Deception? (1995), p19).

9  Renewal magazine, May 1995, p15.

10 Mike Bickle’s endorsement is regularly published, e.g. in the very first section of Gumbel’s book Telling Others (2001) alongside praise for Alpha from Charles Whitehead, Luis Palau, Michael Green, R.T. Kendall, Terry Virgo and very many more of that ilk.

11 Campolo’s support for Alpha appears, for instance, in An Introduction to the Alpha Course, (an undated HTB booklet), p15, as does praise from many other ‘TB’ fans including J.I. Packer, Richard Foster, J. John and Gordon D. Fee, along with numerous Roman Catholic bishops and cardinals (see p14). Gumbel is, in many ways, an English Campolo and he cites Campolo as a sound authority on homosexuality - see chapter 5 of Gumbel’s book Searching Issues.

12 Alpha News International Edn. #1 (Aug – Nov 1999), p2.

13 Gumbel still quotes the late John Wimber regularly (e.g. in Talks 3 & 14), and recommends his books (e.g. in the green Alpha Manual for attendees, (1998), p55). Wimber was one of the first elders to promote Alpha, calling it "ingenious" (Alpha News #11, p28). In December 1995 (i.e. after almost two full years of the ‘TB’ being spread around the globe, and 13 years after Wimber’s team electrified Gumbel), the Vineyard board separated from the Toronto Airport church. However, Vineyard’s statement was very weak and the ‘TB’ itself was not renounced. Wimber went on to support the Pensacola outpouring which was obtained directly from Toronto (and also via HTB). See Al Dager’s definitive Media Spotlight Special Report: Pensacola – Revival or Revelling? (1997), pp1-2 for proof. Given all this, and since Pensacola was ‘up and running’ by the end of 1995, Wimber’s move was surely just a ploy to make Vineyard appear more palatable to anti-TB churches whilst simultaneously making Pensacola seem a reasonable alternative even though the manifestations were practically identical.

14  Talk 9.

15  Talk 10.

16  Gumbel discourages self-control when he says the Holy Spirit is a "Compelling Spirit … [T]he Spirit of Jesus … [is a] Compelling Spirit" [Talk 7], and when he relates that "[O]n the weekend away, … [one man] said he felt a real glow — he had to sit down" [Talk 10].

17 Alpha News, Jul - Oct 2000, p36.

18  HTB’s UK Focus newspaper, Mar 1999, p2.

19 Alpha News #13, p9.

20 Alpha News #14, pp12-13.

21  Mark Elsdon-Dew Ed., The God Who Changes Lives, Vol. 2, (1998), pp222-3. (This is a set of books giving official HTB testimonies.)

22 The God Who Changes Lives, Vol. 2, pp114-115 & 120-121. Since the fruit of the Spirit includes ‘self-control’ (Gal. 5:22-23), these testimonies cannot represent baptism in the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, since many Alpha participants admit to having not accepted the gospel before they experience such manifestations, and that people are spiritually dead to God before salvation (John 14:17), these things are evidently not caused by the Holy Spirit at all. Besides, the true Holy Spirit dwells in our spirit and is therefore discerned spiritually, not physically (1 Cor. 2:14). ‘Invokability’ and contagiousness are also not features of the true Holy Spirit. Our book supplies six chapters of such problems with Alpha testimonies – using numerous examples and lots of relevant Scripture (e.g. Matt. 7:21-23, 24:3-25; 1 John 1:3; Acts 8:7 & 19:16). Note that every ‘TB’/Alpha manifestation is listed as a sign of judgment in two adjacent Bible chapters – e.g. see Jer. 51:35-58.

23  Talk 2. It was certainly not much fun to be with the Lord at His arrest or crucifixion!

24  Ibid.

25  Gumbel, 30 Days, (2001), p37. C.f. Acts 22:14b; 2 Cor. 11:23-28; Eph. 4:17-24; John 16:33; Eccl. 1:18, 7:4; 1 Pet. 4:12-13 etc.

26 30 Days, p138. In the same book, laughter is again defended (p67) (but see Eccl.7:4 & Luke 6:25), and we are ambiguously informed that "spiritual experiences … are very important" (p98).

27  Stung by the fact that such Alpha manifestations are identical to those experienced during pagan Kundalini yoga sessions (see Part 5 of our book for more details), HTB has tried to distance itself by claiming that this particular man has been rescued from practising Kundalini. Sadly, no-one apparently spotted that Kundalini is not mentioned once in his entire testimony.

28  See, for example, Alpha News, Mar – Jun 2001, p18.

29 Alpha News, Mar – Jun 2002, p20.

30  Go to website tacf.org and see the ‘conferences’ page.

31  Gumbel has endorsed RHB (see Neil Richardson, A Tale of Two Cities – Nicky Gumbel and the Alpha Course, (2000), p33).

32  HTB supports events like the Son of David conference involving such ‘Faith’ luminaries as Colin Dye and hosted by the God Channel – see below (Alpha News, Mar – Jun 2002, p20).

33  HTB supports enterprises like the God Channel - which has been funded by Benny Hinn and is dominated by all the Word-Faith leaders (e.g. in Alpha News, Nov 2001 – Feb 2002, p26).

34  Gumbel has even hosted an Alpha conference at Robert Schuller’s church (see Alpha News #17, p4).

35  The book is available through Discernment Ministries.

36  Copies of this article, along with full ordering details for the book, can be obtained from the ‘Better then Rubies’ section of our website (www.bayith.org).

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