In January of 1994, some strange events began to take place in a small church in Toronto, then called the Airport Vineyard Church. During worship services people began to shake, fall, laugh uncontrollably, make animal noises and so on. The strange "manifestations" have been interpreted by many to be a sign of a Holy Spirit renewal. Since the beginning of 1994, thousands of people from all over the world have visited what is now called the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF) to receive a spiritual empowerment there and bring it to their own churches. Many churches in the United Kingdom and elsewhere are involved. A church in Pensacola, Florida has become a "Toronto" of the US. Churches in Central New York are involved. What follows is a Biblical evaluation of the Toronto movement...

The Toronto movement has roots in the ministry of a preacher named Rodney Howard-Browne. When this man claims to be the "Holy Spirit Bartender," what does it mean? Shall we not even ask the question because he is attracting a lot of excited people to some churches? Shall we say that at least something is happening in some churches? Or should we be reminded that the Lord taught us: "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." (Luke 6:45)

Howard-Browne, by labeling himself as Holy Spirit Bartender, is telling us a lot of things about himself. He wants us to think of him as wild, revolutionary, unafraid to make new connections between the holy and the profane. He wants to promote a party atmosphere in the church. These suggestions are horrifying enough but there are worse. He thinks of the Holy Spirit as dispensable, a commodity passed out for people's gratification. The truth is that the Holy Spirit is a person of the Godhead. Jesus Christ called Him He, never it. Howard-Browne's label of himself shows irreverence for the Lord and the ministry. It also means that Howard-Browne thinks of himself as having the Spirit on tap, literally controlling the Holy Spirit. If one thinks of himself as able to dispense God, what else does he think of himself?

Howard-Browne answers his critics:

"I'd rather be in a church where the devil and the flesh are manifesting than in a church where nothing is happening because people are too afraid to manifest anything... and if the devil manifests, don't worry about that, either. Rejoice, because at least something is happening." (Howard-Browne, The Coming Revival. 1991, p.6)

Howard-Browne should be made accountable for the heresy he propounds in his ministry, but many churches today are silent and some, even in Central New York, are promoting his spirit and his ways, calling it a "blessing" or a renewal. The truth is that his "blessing" cannot be separated from his blasphemy. It is wrong for church leaders to claim revulsion for a few of Howard-Browne's phrases but seek his "holy laughter" or his un-Biblical "manifestations of the spirit" or model their church services after the Howard-Browne "let's-have-a-party" pattern.

In Genesis chapter 3 the Bible records that the serpent put doubt into Eve's mind about the reliability of God's Word: "Ye shall not surely die." Referring to the forbidden fruit, the serpent says in verse 5 "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Here we see the oldest temptation known to the human race, the temptation to disregard God's Word and ascend to godhood. It has been our nature from the start to ignore or change for ourselves God's Word and to challenge the Lord's unique position as the Supreme One of all existence. We have been an uppity bunch. Christians, on the other hand, are called to reverse this natural tendency by trusting and obeying the Word.

The Word many times reminds us that the Lord is unique, and man is not God, nor will he ever be:

"Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me." (Isaiah 43:10)

"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" (Numbers 23:19)

"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." (Psalm 90:2)

Yet history shows us that Satan has used the same temptation he used with Adam and Eve again and again. The temptation just won't wear out. Hinduism, Eastern Mysticism, Mormonism, Christian Science, many of the leader cults, the New Age movement, and even "good old" American Humanism either equate humans with God or promise them godhood.

In the last fifty-five years many false teachers have confused Christians and led the Scripturally immature into believing they can have God-like authority. Some have even taught that Christians can achieve equality with God, becoming "manifested sons of God," literally god-men like Christ. Truly, God, in His grace, has made it possible for us to be "partakers of the divine nature." (2 Peter 1:4) But only of Jesus Christ can it be said, "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." (Colossians 2:9) Humans will be forever different from and subordinate to the Three Persons of the Trinity.

Never will humans command the hand of God. Humans can please the Lord, grieve Him, minister to Him, pray to Him, but not control Him. The Lord has promised great spiritual power for Christians. For instance, "sin shall not have dominion over you" (Romans 6:14) and the believers "shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover." (Mark 16:18) However, no one, Christian included, can control God. Anyone who teaches so thinks of himself as God's master--literally a god himself. This is an important point, because whereas some false teachers would emphatically deny that they think of themselves as gods, they teach the control of God the Father or God the Holy Spirit. Or they claim powers for themselves that are unique to Christ. They are then crossing doctrinal lines into full-blown heresy no matter how many claims they make to humility.

The latest and greatest expression of Howard-Browne's ministry is the TACF and like ministries such as a church in Pensacola, Florida. In 1993 a St. Louis pastor, Randy Clark, had Howard-Browne's "blessing" dispensed to him at a Tulsa pastors' conference put on at Kenneth Hagin's Rhema Bible College. Howard-Browne advised Clark, after receiving the new anointing, to "lay hands on everything that moves." (Beverly, Holy Laughter. p.54) Howard-Browne's advice ignores the Biblical command "Lay hands suddenly on no man." (I Timothy 5:22)

Next, John Arnott, pastor of the Toronto church, invited Clark to minister in Toronto in January of 1994, fully aware of where and how Clark received his "gift." Apparently, one of Clark's business cards identifies him as "Bartender at Joel's Place." (Beverly, p. 70) For an explanation of the reference to Joel see later section entitled Pastoring the Movement.

Thus began the greatest craze amongst the churches to occur in the Twentieth Century. Thousands of people including many church leaders have flocked to TACF to have the "power" dispensed to them. The United Kingdom is reported to have 4000 churches infected with the heresy. People are excited because church services now feature people falling, fainting, shaking, laughing hysterically, making animal noises such as roaring, barking, mooing, and oinking, and even convulsing in a suggestive manner. These manifestations are being seen across denominational lines among Evangelicals, Catholics, Anglicans, Pentecostals, Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists, and, even TACF church leaders admit, in those who are totally secular and unbelieving.

Many who claim to have received renewal at TACF meetings disavow any connection between TACF, themselves and Howard-Browne's heretical inferences that God can be controlled by humans, but this is impossible. For instance, at one meeting, a TACF prophet Marc DuPont gave a testimony of a visiting pastor's reluctance to receive. According to DuPont, another pastor grabbed an imaginary ball of power out of thin air and pitched it at the doubter and hit him in the stomach. DuPont said that the ball of power knocked the man over and intoxicated him with the spirit. DuPont's audience applauded. This is heresy! It is not Biblical! The audience should have stood up and filed out. The Holy Spirit is not in the palm of our hands. To teach so is to teach that we control God, and in fact that we are gods. It would be one thing for a member of any congregation to behave in such an unseemly manner as the pastor who threw the imaginary ball, but for DuPont, in a sermon, to make a positive example, seemingly for imitation, out of that kind of behavior is damnable. With what are DuPont and men promoting this thing intoxicated?

Pastor George Byron Koch is also alarmed at the suggestions inherent in such activities:

"There are others involved in the Toronto Blessing who believe they are able to transmit the Holy Spirit into other people as they choose. They think the Holy Spirit is a power that they can pump, scoop, blow, and press into others, and there may even be such a power present. But it is not the Holy Spirit, and it should be rebuked. And those who may have used it should repent." (Koch, "Pumped and Scooped?")

Jesus Christ said, "...believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father... But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth..." (John 4:21,23) Yet people from all over the world, even from Central New York, feel they have to go to Toronto or Pensacola to get blessed. The Lord's teaching is that the Holy Spirit is where we are gathered in the name of Christ around the Truth, the Word of God, not in some certain city. The spiritual hunger of the pilgrims does not make the source right, any more than the tomb of Thomas à Becket was the right focus of thousands of pilgrims who went to see it in Canterbury in Medieval times. When those who ought to know better go to Toronto or Pensacola to receive a "blessing" that they then feel they can carry back to Central New York with them, they are not being lead by the Word of God. Do they also feel they can dispense the Holy Spirit?

Those involved in this Toronto thing say that the barking, roaring, convulsions and so on are not the important thing, but this is phony lip-service to what they know is right but are unwilling to obey. Visitors to Toronto go to see just such manifestations. If the barking and so on were not in Toronto, the people would not go. Ambitious men are using this side-show called a "move of God" to attract people and attention to their churches. In Toronto and like churches, church leaders say not to worry about the manifestations, but then they move the chairs out of the way so the congregation can have manifestations. The leaders say not to seek the manifestations, but then they pray for people until when? Until they "manifest." Prayer teams are taught so. The pastors say not to seek the manifestations, but then they spend the better part of their preaching time testifying about manifestations. The actions of these church leaders speak much more eloquently than their words.

There are Biblical manifestations which include the nine-fold fruit of the Holy Spirit and the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit. Exuberant praise, singing, shouting, praying in the Spirit, even dancing and emotional expressions of joy have their time and place in a church meeting. However, laughing during preaching on hell would contradict the urgency of the subject matter, thereby mocking the preacher, the service, and worst of all the very Word of God. But this is exactly what happened at a Howard-Browne meeting, and he thought it was great.

The Toronto movement leaders can be characterized by a belief that if the church service is not messy, confusing, weird or all but chaotic, God is not involved. They tend to treat with disdain someone who points them to the Bible's instructions about order in the church service:

"For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints." (I Corinthians 14:33)

The disregard these men demonstrate toward God's Word is much, much more serious than the confusion of the manifestations, but as long as the manifestations continue to be emphasized as they are, the disregard for the Word will continue. Their "manifestations of the spirit" are truly manifestations of the movement leaders' disrespect for or ignorance of the Word of God. The proponents of the Toronto thing should apply I Corinthians 14:37: "If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord." New Testament pastor Timothy was exhorted, "Preach the word" (II Timothy 4:2) and "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (II Timothy 2:15)

One cannot help wondering how such a movement, together with its un-Biblical manifestations and heresy, can gain acceptance with such a vast audience.

First, the acceptance of the Toronto thing is not as universal as leaders sometimes claim. Many churches are being split, people are being disillusioned, and debate is raging. The Internet is rife with debate over the validity of the movement. The majority of comments approach the analysis Biblically and come against it. At the Toronto church the leaders are circling their doctrinal wagons, preparing their people against the opposition. Randy Clark at the Toronto church on October 13, 1994 said,

"It is not always going to be popular. None of these moves were considered popular at the time. None of these moves that I'm sharing with you was really welcomed by the established church. Almost every one of them was fought. And it means there's always going to be people that's not going to like what you do, and ridicule you and maybe mock you... our detractors can take, out of context, soundbites, and put them on the radio, but I promise you we will know there's been a healing in the church."

Secondly, the common thread between those who are testifying of a renewal is discouragement and frustration at their ineffectiveness in ministry and dissatisfaction with their spiritual life. The "renewal" did not start with those who are on-fire for the Lord, but the drying-up and dead or nearly dead. The "renewal" began with those already doubting the efficacy of the simple Gospel. Guy Chevreau writes, "I came, more desperate than curious, and too desperate to be critical." (Chevreau, Catch the Fire: The Toronto Blessing, An Experience Of Renewal and Revival. p. 13) According to author Dave Roberts, Elli Mumford, one of the instruments for bringing this thing to the United Kingdom, "...had gone there feeling spiritually 'burnt out' and longing for a fresh understanding and vitality in her relationship with Jesus." (Roberts, The Toronto Blessing. p.11) A pastor in Central New York admitted publicly that his counseling sessions were often ineffectual, and then he became a promoter of this thing. No one is to be condemned for being tired, frustrated, hurting or desperate. On the other hand, should people on an emotional and spiritual rebound be responsible for leading their churches into a "new thing"? People rebounding from spiritual desperation, whether pastors or not, tend to have impaired judgment.

One more example of this nature: upon a visit to TACF, a man asked a notable evangelist if the evangelist had any reservations about the Toronto thing. The evangelist responded, "Some of this is flesh and some of this is God. At least something is happening." When asked if the Toronto thing could be part of the delusion of which Paul warned in II Thessalonians 2, the evangelist replied, "I never think about that kind of stuff, it doesn't interest me and we aren't to be paralyzed by fear. All I'm concerned about is riding the next wave." Remember the words of Howard-Browne that anything going on in the church is better than nothing? The truth is that if nothing is going on in the church, it is bad. But it is also true that the church is not a place where anything or everything is acceptable. We are to remember the warnings of Paul: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears." (II Timothy 4:3); and the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ: "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed." (John 8:31)

In these end times, Christians may find themselves frustrated by the lack of reception given to the Word of God. We are not to be surprised, though. We were warned it would happen. However, we are not then to move out of the Bible to "new things"--new manifestations, new powers, new visions about our abilities. To the pastor who has led a handful of people--ten or twenty or eighty, whatever number--into a humble, sincere knowledge of the Bible and obedience to it: God bless you! You have done a good work, and you will not lose your reward! Again, remember the advice of Paul to Pastor Timothy: "Preach the word!"

John Arnott, pastor of TACF says, "So when you come to him tonight asking to be filled with the Holy Spirit, I don't want you to even entertain the thought you might get a counterfeit." (December 16, 1994) Also, "If he thinks it's God and he likes it, let him enjoy it! Because you can test the fruit later." (November 18, 1994) Again, TACF pastor Ray Allen: "God's not near as worried about heresy or noise or mess or distress as we are." (October 13, 1994) It has become TACF's church tradition to mock those who say to be careful. In so doing they mock the words of Christ: "Take heed that no man deceive you" (Matthew 24:4); "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many" (Matthew 24:11); and Paul: "Prove (or scrutinize) all things; hold fast that which is good" (I Thessalonians 5:21); and John: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." (I John 4:1)

Furthermore, John Arnott and his staff challenge people during the "carpet time" portions of their services to empty their minds, not pray, and in seeking the Holy Spirit not to speak in tongues. Arnott, visiting England in February 14, 1995, said,

"Another thing that hinders is people pray all the time. Praying in English or even praying in tongues. Mention the Holy Spirit and they start praying in tongues, you know. Our experience is that you will hinder substantially your ability to receive. And so I say to people, 'Look, don't pray.' It's hard to pour out and to pour in at the same time. It's like a bucket that's got a hole in it because you are pouring out in prayer... Don't take control, you can take control later. The whole deal is, you lose control, he takes control."

Beware of TACF's "proofs" that they have been directed by the Holy Spirit. They claim a combination of three things:

1. TACF claims that God is doing a "new thing." They have to call it a "thing" because there is not support in the Bible for it. The proponents of the Toronto thing in Central New York claim it is a "new thing." They make this claim because of the Bible's statement that Christ did more than what is recorded in the Bible. They say that means there is room for a "new thing" in this move they claim is of God. If this line of reasoning is correct, then we cannot justly ban anything in the church that the Bible does not specifically outlaw. Then how about abortion? Or the slavery of America's past? Abortion and slavery are against the Bible's teachings. So is thinking you can dispense God. So is the belief that a couple of churches have the blessing that the whole world needs. So is a party atmosphere in church. So is laughing about hell!

2. Contradicting their claim that God is doing a new thing, the Toronto thing proponents then claim erroneously that their experiences are not new but have been experienced by Christians, especially those of the 1700's and 1800's in America and England. There is not space to develop this idea at length in this publication, but why do they first claim their experience is new and then go looking for support of it in out-of-context quotes from 18th and 19th Century preachers such as Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and Charles Finney?

3. TACF proponents claim that the good fruit their ministry has produced proves it is of God. The main fruit that the movement can point to is enthusiasm, excitement, or exuberance. Many people are excited, and attendance is up at many churches pushing the Toronto thing. But attendance is up at ball games, and excitement is up at rock concerts, and exuberance is up at the movies. Exuberance, in and of itself, is not a measuring stick for the work of God.

The next good fruit that the churches in question claim is "inner healings." How can we validate a ministry of inner healings on such short notice? Inner-healing is a fruit that is convenient for them to claim because it is so hard to validate either way. The two-year old Toronto craze is too young to judge by certain fruits which need a test of time. There is so much bad fruit to see, too.

There are torn churches, torn homes, people who have quit Christianity, not over offense with the Word of God, but over offense at the un-Biblical manifestations. People right in the Syracuse area have quit churches, started rebel churches, stated they would never enter churches again... all because of un-Biblical manifestations.

One other thing about fruit: the demoniac of the Gadarenes was healed of demon possession where he lived among the tombs. A man at Living Word Church was saved at a bar, another at the Clay dump. The Lord can reach a soul in the Devil's den. Some good fruit there does not mean we should make churches like tombs or bars or dumps or the Devil's den!

The only valid way to judge whether this "new manifestation" is from the Holy Spirit is by measuring it against the Word of God, but the Toronto movement proponents skirt this issue, make light of it, and mock it. The book of Acts has numerous examples of men of God judging whether certain events were from the Lord. Though men could give their testimonies, in each case the final verdict came from the Scripture. For examples see Peter's referral to the Scriptures when explaining the gift of tongues in Acts 2:17-18 or James's referral to Scripture when he pronounced the Gentiles were receiving the Holy Spirit in Acts 15:15-18.

While Rodney Howard-Browne and Rhema Bible College represent, in a measure, the spiritual origin of the Toronto craze, TACF leaders speak of the necessity of pastoring the movement. Although it has looked to them since its inception, TACF now looks to the past and present messages of a group of false prophets called the Kansas City Prophets (KCP) for much of its guidance and vision. The growth of the Toronto movement has encouraged its leaders to grow bolder about their connections to the KCP and their teachings.

To understand the KCP, one must understand William Branham. Although not a Kansas City Prophet himself, Branham is a source of inspiration to the KCP. This teacher and prophet literally believed he was the angel of Revelation 3:14 and 10:7. He believed that the only true evidence of possessing the Holy Spirit was following him. He claimed the Biblical truth of the Trinity of God was a lie from Satan. He considered the Zodiac as equal in authority to the Bible. According to his Joel's Army teaching, an army of spiritual supermen, followers of himself, would take dominion over the earth as "manifested sons of God." (Remember Randy Clark's business card?) He would refer to the spiritual empowerment of his followers with a twisted conception of the Biblical phrase "latter rain." His view, like the KCP, is that the coming to this earth of the Kingdom of God means the taking of the earth by these god-men. In their view, the church is Christ, conqueror, warrior, avenger. Branham's followers, believing that Branham was born of a virgin as Elijah come back to earth, are still awaiting his resurrection.

Although Branham has died, his heretical influence lives on in the teachings of Paul Cain. Cain is one of the KCP, who, along with his pastor Mike Bickle, is a main connection between the KCP and TACF. Consistent with the cowboy, six-shooter-strapped-to-my-thigh mentality that the name of this group suggests, Cain admits the influence of Branham when he said, before a crowd of 3000 at the Toronto church on May 28, 1995:

"For quite a while I have been embarrassed to say anything about the latter rain, because you are associated and identified with something that people don't seem to appreciate in certain evangelical circles. So I have played it cool and haven't said much about it. But I don't care what they think any more... I believe we are going to have the latter rain and I am looking forward to it."

"I believe that God is going to allow us to see and to even partake in this restoration--this is a major statement and I want you to pay attention closely--to the restoration of the New Testament standard... I believe that God is going to renovate the entire understanding of what Christianity is in the nations of the Earth. I believe that the way that 99 per cent of us across the world as believers understand Christianity, in 20 years there will be a totally different understanding of what Christianity is from what it is right now. I believe the understanding of it, the standard of life and the expression of Christianity as we know it, I believe God is going to restore it in the Earth in this generation." (Bickle, Overview of Corporate Long Term Vision. January 5, 1986)

Wes Campbell used dramatic and dangerous words, claimed to be prophetic, at a 1994 "Catch the Fire" conference in Toronto in which he took guidance from a 1984 vision of Bob Jones of the KCP. Jones saw a "bloody civil war" in the church. Campbell then claimed confirmation of the vision by referring to a supposed prophecy by James Ryle about war between the 'bluecoats' who stood for the revelatory and the 'greycoats' who stood for "grey matter, man's wisdom." (As an important note, Ryle is the pastor of Bill McCartney, the leader of the Promise Keepers movement.)

In conference literature, Stacey Campbell urged people to either get behind the Toronto wave or meet a fate worse than Sodom and Gomorrah's. Readers are told to choose between "call it God" or "follow human reason."

The prophecies are couched as support for barking, roaring, shaking, and the like, but the danger of these thoughts is enormous. They are anti-Christ thoughts, anti-Word of God thoughts, the work of seducing spirits as Paul promised would come in the last days (I Timothy 4:1). The Toronto thing, whether in Toronto or Pensacola or Syracuse is not of God.

Some in our community of Syracuse who promote what they call the "Toronto blessing" claim to be appalled by such statements as Mike Bickle's or Rodney Howard-Browne's--those who are not appalled are nothing short of heretics--but this is the theological company they keep. It's no wonder that TACF would look to men like Cain, Bickle, Jones or the Campbells for guidance after they have taken such a dim view of discernment and paid such light respect to the written Word of God. Those who follow the TACF methods, manifestations, and disrespect for the Word of God are bound to do so. They are doing it already. In the case of the "Toronto blessing," there is no blessing without blasphemy.

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