Bellevue Baptist Church pastor and former Southern Baptist Convention President Steve Gaines has been diagnosed with kidney cancer, giving the sad news to his congregation during yesterday’s service.
“This past Friday, I was diagnosed with kidney cancer. And we just wanted to tell you, and we just wanted you to hear it from us. And we have some great doctors, and we’ve got the best doctor, amen? We’ve got the best doctor, Jesus.
We’ll be following their direction, and we’ve had some tests and all, but we’re gonna go through a few more things, and then we’ll be going to MD Anderson as well. That’s down in Houston, and they’re cancer experts on how to treat things. So all we’re wanting you to do is pray for us. And just want to tell you firsthand- I didn’t want you to hear it from someone else; I wanted to tell you straight up, ok?”
Bellevue Church, located in Cordova, TN is one of the largest SBC churches in the country, claiming a membership of around 30,000 people.
According to the American Society of Clinical Oncology, kidney cancer it is the sixth most common type of cancer for men, with aorund 53,000 cases last year, and most people are diagnosed between the ages of 65 and 74. “About two-thirds of people are diagnosed when the cancer is located only in the kidney. For this group, the 5-year relative survival rate is 93%. If kidney cancer has spread to surrounding tissues or organs and/or the regional lymph nodes, the 5-year relative survival rate is 72%. If the cancer has spread to a distant part of the body, the 5-year relative survival rate is 15%.”
Gaines’ specific prognosis and what “stage” the cancer was caught at (stage 1 to 4) or whether it is localized or has spread is unknown. Though he lives two states away, he will be traveling to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, which is widely considered the best hospital in the world for oncology and cancer-related treatments.
Beni Johnson, one of the senior leaders of the 12,000-member Bethel Church in Redding, California and wife to Bill Johnson has passed away. She was 67.
Beni had been undergoing chemotherapy, the result of several tumors being revealed by a CT scan inside her body after a season of prolonged illness, and entered hospice care, where she was being prayed for around the clock by congregants. Beni was previously diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017.
Bill Johnson posted this message on Facebook:
During her first diagnosis in 2017, Beni Johnson revealed she had a heavenly encounter with Jesus in the spirit and gained access to “healing power over cancer” and told the congregants to begin grabbing the healing power of cancer “out of heaven” as a means of obtaining healing.
Last year, when Bill revealed the cancer came back, he said they were confident she would be healed, sharing with the church:
We’re not begging for a miracle. It’s already been bought and paid for. The entire Christian life for me is learning what’s in my possession and what’s in my account and how to make withdrawals, and that’s the entire Christian life.
…Guilt and shame is false humility, and it introduces you to an insulation to breakthrough, and so what you want to do is stay away from that…but what we know for sure is that divine health is our portion. We know that no weapon formed against us can prosper. We know that he sent his word that is finely tuned and specifically designed for Benni’s situation.
He sent his word and healed her. We know that by the stripes of Jesus- did you know the stripes of Jesus, the suffering, was not necessary for your redemption? It was necessary for our healing. The death on the cross was necessary for our salvation- the shedding of blood, but not the suffering from a whip. That was for the healing. That was for the deliverance.
Beni Johnson is married to one of the most famous faith healers in the world, and yet is dying of cancer. This is an inescapable fact. Diagnosed in 2017, the wife of Bill Johnson had CT scans recently that revealed her body is full of tumors, and a few weeks ago she really took a turn for the worse, prompting the church to set up a 24/7 prayer chain for her. While we pray for her healing, we’ve sadly already written her obituary as her odds of recovery absent a miracle are essentially non-existent.
This is a sobering reality, given that Johnson, who oversees the 10,000 member word/faith Bethel megachurch in Redding, California, regularly claims to heal Stage-4 cancer. He teaches that with enough faith, one can be healed, as healing is a promise that is a part of the gospel, and the church incessantly advertises all the miracles that happen within their congregation
Last month during a Q&A Johnson explained that “It is always God’s will to heal everyone” and that he never prays “if it be your will to heal”, as that is a prayer for unbelief, given that God has already revealed to Johnson that’s it’s always his will. It’s not a peripheral issue, but rather “is central to the gospel”. He’s previously said, that God never, ever sends sickness to people and that “I refuse to create a theology that allows for sickness”. In a different Q&A, he told the audience when asked if Jesus ever choose not to heal:
“2000 years ago, Jesus made a purchase. He does not decide ‘not to heal people’ today, the decision 2000 years ago was to heal. Either the payment was sufficient for all sin, or no sin. Either the payment was sufficient for all sickness or no sickness.
Healing and forgiveness work in tandem throughout the Scripture. You will find them in the same phrase consistently because it was the basic same payment of headed to the cross, the stripes that he bore, the blood that he shed that dealt with sickness as well as forgiveness.
There’s a third element though thrown in-there’s the word ‘poverty’. In the word ‘evil’ in the Gospel of Matthew, it says ‘deliver us from evil’. The word comes from the word ‘pain’. And the word ‘pain’ actually comes from the root word ‘poor’. So the brushstroke of God’s redemption was to wipe out the root of sin, the root of illness, and the root of poverty.So does he choose not to (heal) ? No, he chose to do it long time ago.“
This incongruence between heretical wistful thinking and reality is best seen in a new post by Johnson, who is inviting people to come to a “healing school” where they can pay 165$ to train in both becoming a healer, and also being healed.
The promo material states:
Bethel Healing School is focused on activating a culture of healing and miracles, and stepping into a greater breakthrough in the miraculous. You will be inspired, trained, equipped, and launched into a lifestyle of healing and miracles. This school encompasses much more than just teaching; it’s four days immersed into a culture of joy, freedom, and experiencing all that Jesus paid for. It’s designed to be an intense week full of practical activation, impartation, and miracles, miracles, miracles!
In our sessions, you will grow in the awareness of the anointing you carry. You will explore scriptural truth that deactivates lies we have believed about healing. You’ll also learn new ways to cultivate and maintain an atmosphere conducive to healing in your personal lives, churches, communities, and ministries.
Each year, many return home with the confident knowledge that the healing power of Jesus is available to all of us today! The Healing School is led by the Director of Bethel’s Healing Rooms, Chuck Parry, under the direction of Bill Johnson. Every week, people come from all over the globe to receive ministry at the Healing Rooms, where the miraculous power of Jesus and creative miracles have become frequent and expected.
And yet Bethel shut down their church, School of Supernatural Ministry and the Healing Houses during the pandemic.
And yet his wife remains unhealed.
And yet his theology is trash and he basically functions as a heresy generator.
Everything in that promo is a lie. The whole event is a lie. Bethel is in for a reckoning, and only God knows how they’ll react when it does.
Nanci Alcorn, wife to best-selling author Randy Alcorn has passed away on March 28th after a long batter with colon cancer.
Alcorn is the Director of Eternal Perspective Ministries and author of 55 books, including “Heaven. ” His wife Nanci was diagnosed with colon cancer in the spring of 2018 and then a year later, learned that it spread to her lungs. As the time drew near, she was surrounded by her family up to the time she passed, with them praying over her, singing hymns, and reading her scripture. A post on his website details her last week.
Tim Keller gave an update on his ongoing health crisis and it is bleak. Keller was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in June 2020 and thankfully was taking positive steps towards recovery, writing in November of 2020 that his recent CAT scans show continued improvement and the physician is “surprised” and “delighted” with the headway he is having as he burns through rounds of chemotherapy, calling his progress “incredible.”
This was great news, as the recovery rates are devastatingly low. According to John Hopkins Hospital, “The combined five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer—the percentage of all patients who are living five years after diagnosis—is very low at just 5 to 10 percent” on account of it typically being caught so late in the game.
In an update provided in mid-September Keller shared on social media that he was recently tested and the primary tumor had not progressed, but that they found a ‘mystery lump’ nearby that proved to likewise be cancerous. As a result, they cranked it up, which had more side effects and impact on his ability to teach.
Sadly, Keller announced on Twitter that his pancreatic cancer has progressed into stage IV, which is essentially regarded as incurable. The five-year survival rate is 1% with the vast majority of patients expected to live less than a year- usually around 6 months.
Though we generally regard Keller as imminently theologically dangerous, with links to why here, we pray that the Lord miraculously heals him.
Tim Keller has updated the world on his ongoing health crisis and it is bleak, but not hopeless. Keller was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer back in June 2020 and thankfully was taking positive steps towards recovery, writing in November of 2020 that his recent CAT scans show continued improvement and the physician is “surprised” and “delighted” with the headway he is having as he burns through rounds of chemotherapy, calling his progress “incredible.”
This was great news, as the recovery rates are devastatingly low. According to John Hopkins Hospital, “The combined five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer—the percentage of all patients who are living five years after diagnosis—is very low at just 5 to 10 percent” on account of it typically being caught so late in the game.
In an update provided this morning, Keller shared on social media that a few weeks ago he was tested and the primary tumor had not progressed, but that they found a ‘mystery lump’ nearby that proved to likewise be cancerous. As a result, they are cranking up the chemo, which will have more side effects and impact his ability to teach.
Though we generally regard Keller as imminently theologically dangerous, with links to why here, we wish him a swift and ongoing recovery.
Bethel Church Head Honcho Bill Johnson has announced that his wife Beni Johnson is presently undergoing chemotherapy, the result of several tumors being revealed by a CT scan inside her body after a season of prolonged illness.
Johnson made the announcement during yesterdays’ church service, explaining:
Benni and I took the last several weeks, 3-4 weeks off vacation and did one of the things we like doing the most and that’s staying at home- a staycation.
One of the reasons we actually didn’t go anywhere this year is because Beni has been so sick. She’s not been well for a while but especially the last month. We arranged to have a CT scan- they found three very large tumors and so she is undergoing chemo. The first treatment was this last week.
And we are like everybody else, contending for the breakthrough that’s already been provided, we know that’s true. There’s that weird verse in proverbs that says:” The horse is prepared for the day of battle, the victory belongs to the Lord.” So we’re doing the natural thing knowing that our salvation really is in the hand of the Lord.
Beni was previously diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018.
Lead prophet Kris Vallotton, taking the stage, told the congregants that “this isn’t a season of mourning, but of warfare” and prayed against the cancer.
After the prayer, Johnson told the stunned crowd:
We’re not begging for a miracle. It’s already been bought and paid for. The entire Christian life for me is learning what’s in my possession and what’s in my account and how to make withdrawals, and that’s the entire Christian life.
…Guilt and shame is false humility, and it introduces you to an insulation to breakthrough, and so what you want to do is stay away from that…but what we know for sure is that divine health is our portion. We know that no weapon formed against us can prosper. We know that he sent his word that is finely tuned and specifically designed for Benni’s situation.
He sent his word and healed her. We know that by the stripes of Jesus- did you know the stripes of Jesus, the suffering, was not necessary for your redemption? It was necessary for our healing. The death on the cross was necessary for our salvation- the shedding of blood, but not the suffering from a whip. That was for the healing. That was for the deliverance.
CT Today reported years ago during her first diagnosis that in 2017 “Beni Johnson revealed she had a heavenly encounter with Jesus in the spirit and gained access to healing power over cancer” and told the congregants to begin grabbing the healing power of cancer “out of heaven” as a means of obtaining healing.
Last month during a Q&A Johnson explained that “It is always God’s will to heal everyone” and that he never prays “if it be your will to heal”, as that is a prayer for unbelief, given that God has already revealed to Johnson that’s it’s always his will.
(Vanity Fair) Over the past year, Hillsong Church has faced a number of major controversies that have shaken up both its ministry and celebrity parishioners. But now, a pastor involved in another of the church’s scandals from over a decade ago has announced he’s turning over a new leaf with a brand-new charity.
In 2008, former Hillsong pastor and band member Michael Guglielmucci admitted to faking a cancer diagnosis to distract from his addiction to pornography after an Adelaide newspaper revealed he’d been lying about the state of his health for years, according to the New York Post. During his tenure at the church, Guglielmucci was reportedly known for regularly performing his hit song “Healer” with an oxygen tube affixed to his nose, was reportedly believed to have received donations to help pay for his treatments.
After the newspaper’s discovery, the pastor released a brief statement claiming his illnesses were real, but tied to an unholy lifestyle rather than cancer as he previously claimed. “As a result of this secret life of sin, my body would often breakdown,” he said. “I’d report the cause of my symptoms simply as illnesses and I’ve thrown my life into a ministry for many years trying to compensate for my sin…. Two years ago, I reported that I was suffering from cancer, the truth is that although I was ill I did not have cancer but was again using the misdiagnosis to hid the lie that I was living.”
He ultimately admitted to being addicted to pornography for over 16 years and using the cancer hoax as a distraction.
Now, 13 years on, Guglielmucci and his wife, Amanda, who together go by “Team Gug,” per the Post, have found a new calling from God, registering their…
Pastor Tim Keller, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer has gotten his results back, and it’s good news.
Keller was diagnosed with pancreatic back in June 2020 and thankfully has been taking positive steps towards recovery, writing that his recent CAT scans show continued improvement and the physician is “surprised” and “delighted” with the headway he is having as he burns through rounds of chemotherapy, calling his progress “incredible.”
Though we generally regard Keller as imminently theologically dangerous, with links to why here, we wish him a swift and ongoing recovery.
