Is This NAR? Bethel Church Successfully Takes Control of their City’s Council
The 11,000-member Bethel Church in Redding, California, led by Bill Johnson, now hold the majority on the Redding City Council after a successful electoral run in November by Bethel members saw them emerge victorious and now hold the swing vote. Ministry Watch reports:
Redding is a city of 93,462 in Trump-red Shasta County, which has a population of 182,000. Both Bethel’s size and its commitment to Seven Mountain dominionism have gained it increasing local influence over the last decade as it seeks to create “heaven on earth.”
Pastor Bill Johnson, who became leader of the Assemblies of God congregation in 1996, described his view of the church’s role in society in Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate, a book he wrote with self-proclaimed Trump prophet Lance Wallnau:
“Jesus instituted it as an army that brought transformation to society, starting with salvation and continuing with seven spheres of influence: Church, family, education, government, media, arts, and commerce.”
And more:
Redding residents are divided on the church’s impact on their city.
-Some say the church has helped the city in many ways: Members volunteer and serve throughout the city.
-The large number of travelers who visit Bethel and its five schools (Bethel Christian School, Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, Bethel Conservatory of the Arts, Bethel School of Technology, Bethel Music College) helped attract nonstop United Airlines flights to Los Angeles.
-When the Redding Civic Auditorium faced closure, Bethel created the nonprofit Advance Redding to lease the facility. The city approved a 10-year lease extension in 2021.
But some residents have grown frustrated with Bethel’s combination of other-worldly theology and increasing this-worldly clout, as the appearance of “Buck Fethel” T-shirts show. Local critics oppose Bethel’s promotion of gay conversion therapy, and its fight against COVID masks, vaccinations, and closures. There’s also concern that Bethel members are fanning secessionist movements and supporting militia groups in Shasta County.
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Great
The latest example of ‘Christian Nationalism’. I’m sure this will end well
Christians are supposed to be doormats and submit to the world
Well, I believe many of Bethel’s teachings are contrary to scripture, but if I had to choose I believe I’d much rather live in a town where they hold sway and God’s Word is still respected, than I would a complete satanic cesspool like san fransicko. Of course, as usual, the rabid “progressives” object to such federalist ideas, and pitch a fit because a town with 0.028% of the nation’s population, covering 0.0016% of the nation’s landmass doesn’t fall in line with their beliefs, thereby exposing themselves as the nationalists they claim to oppose, intent on imposing their wicked, satanic ideologies on every person and square inch of the country.
Bill Johnson is demonic. His ‘kinetic Christology’ denies Christ’s diety while on the earth. His website had a message that his church doubted a person’s salvation if they never got “healed.” His wife DIED, so the message was taken off of the site. Supposedly Johnson has brought 200 dead people ‘back to life.” which contradicts “absent from the body, present with the Lord.” (not back to the body again!) The ‘grave soaking’ to connect with a dead Charismatic’s ‘anointings’ is beyond comprehension. Members of Bethel are seen on youtube declaring that they visit psychic fairs to ‘learn how to prophesy’ one’s future. RUN from Bill Johnson, Mike Bickle and the Charismatic church!
Before anyone gets their feathers in a ruffle, I need to remind you before I make my case that I am a conservative Christian that leans strongly in the direction of Calvinism. However, John Calvin made some mistakes. This article reminds me of one.
Do a google search of John Calvin’s Geneva experiment where the church took over the reins of politics, economics and thought life of everyone in the City of Geneva for a few years. They thought they were bringing God’s kingdom onto the earth. It turned into an authoritarian police state.
I am not a calvinest, inasmuch as I understand calvinism, though from what little research I did at your recommendation, I believe he may be getting a bad rap when it comes to some things that already existed in Geneva, and were commonplace at the time. In similar fashion to how the Christian founders of the United States get a bad rap over slavery, even though they did not bring it here, and took significant measures to set it on course to end. They shouldn’t have compromised, of course. But then again, had they not, and had they cracked down, the early days of the United States just as well could’ve been called a police state.
I read a book review under a book about the supposed “Geneva experiment” in which someone referenced Eph. 1:4-12, reviewed it. Well, they leave out verse 13, which begins “In whom ye also trusted.” In other words, the “we” that Paul is referring to in verses 4-12 are the Apostles. And that is often the case in his letters, and in other books of the NT. The apostles, in agreement, wrote to the churches. And often a word such as “we” will refer to them as a team as opposed to all believers.
That said, Christians have held power and sway in nations since Constantine. And in cities and towns even prior to that. Thousands of towns and cities. Many countries. Most obviously the United States being founded on Christian principles. At that time I believe most states, if not every state, had an official religion. Cities and towns had official religions. The constitution only limited the federal government. So just about every city, town, and state in the original 13 colonies, and beyond, stand as glaring, obvious examples. And the fact that those who oppose any Christian power or influence at all have to dig up obscure instances in history, such as Calvin’s time in Geneva, to try to make their case, speaks volumes in and of itself. If they have to do that much digging for rare examples in order to try to make their case, they should consider the possibility that their case has no merit, when it comes to trying to substantiate the idea that Christians should not hold power.
Nations of the west were obviously not police states before all this godlessness and perversion began to be imposed on Christians. So theirs is an obviously deceitful argument, with no real purpose but to advance and impose a satanic agenda. The general implication that Christians cannot lead without forming a fascist police state is, frankly, stupid.
Bethel’s false teaching concerning the formation of God’s kingdom on earth is indeed concerning, and is contrary to scripture. Only Jesus can and will do that, when He returns in physical form to set up His millennial kingdom. That said, however, if you have leaders who respect God’s Word, then you can challenge them using scripture. Even if their theology may be incorrect, they cannot argue against God’s Word itself. Could it possibly be worse than those who now are essentially trying to make this nation, and many others, into satans kingdom? Where Christians are concerned, western nations are not very far from being authoritarian police states already.
Unless you want total anarchy, we are going to have law and that law is going to be enforced. The question is what our standards will be, which underpin that law. Whatever those standards are, they are a matter of belief – of morals. All law rests upon that foundation.
To use one of the examples given in the description of the book, at the time of Calvin, a tall woman’s hairdo was considered immodest and unacceptable. So the author of that book takes that example and deceitfully employs presentism in order to try to compare it to our time and what we consider acceptable today. A tall hairdo at that time would’ve been making a completely different statement than a tall hairdo now. Yet even now, in the United States, if a woman goes walking down the street naked, she will be arrested and jailed. Obviously there is nothing in scripture that says a tall hairdo is wrong in and of itself. However, it could be if it is intended to send the wrong message and make the wrong statement. The Bible says, for example, that it is an abomination for men to dress up as women and for women to dress up as men. Some of that is obviously going to be dependent on clothing styles, and so on. It may not be the actual clothes themselves, but rather the statement that is made by wearing them. imho