“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”
(2Co 2:11)
The Toronto blessing, a term coined by British newspapers, describes the revival and resulting phenomena that began in January 1994 at the Toronto Airport Vineyard church, a neo-charismatic evangelical Christian church located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Pastors John and Carol Arnott founded the Toronto Airport Vineyard church around 1988. It met in various rented locations throughout Toronto until the early 1990s when the church found a more permanent home near the Lester B. Pearson Airport. On 20th January 1994, Randy Clark, a Vineyard pastor from St. Louis, Missouri, was invited by TACF’s pastor, John Arnott, to lead a local church revival.
The rest, as commonly said, ‘is history’.
In 1995 the church joined John Wimber’s Vineyard Movement and became known as Toronto Airport Vineyard Church, now known as the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship or TACF, a multi-site church with campuses meeting in various venues throughout the Greater Toronto Area. TACF Airport is the primary and largest campus.
After the break with Wimber and the Vineyard in 1995, the church founded “Partners in Harvest”, a group of churches that shared similar beliefs. Their website is: Partners in Harvest
The “Toronto Blessing” represents the latest phase of the larger pentecostal/charismatic movement, an approach that even in 1995 (Cox) was said to account for one out of four Christians worldwide. Beginning with the Welsh Revival (1903-04), escalating with the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles (190607), and rekindled through the Latter Rain Movement (1948), the Charismatic Movement in the 1960s and 1970s, the Third Wave in the 1980s, and now the “Toronto Blessing” (1994), the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in 20th century America may be characterized as a religious movement struggling against the forces of institutionalization. [From: The Spirit and The Bride – The “Toronto Blessing” and Church Structure by Margaret M. Poloma, The University of Akron Department of Sociology]
John Arnott heard that Clark had attended a conference with Rodney Howard-Browne and had been greatly impacted by Howard-Browne’s ministry. The revival started during Clark’s two month visit but continued after he left. Some Christian leaders criticized the church and revival because of the teachings and manifestations that occurred. Wimber initially defended the Airport Vineyard saying “Nearly everything we’ve seen—falling, weeping, laughing, shaking—has been seen before, not only in our own memory, but in revivals all over the world.”
Nevertheless, the church withdrew or was expelled, according to some, from the Vineyard. Wimber explained the circumstances surrounding the split in a Christianity Today interview, saying that the revival at Toronto was “changing our definition of renewal in Vineyard” and that “the [Vineyard’s] decision was to withdraw endorsement; [TACF’s] decision was to resign”.
Wimber passed away in 1997 but worked for many years before his death with Mike Bickle and the Kansas City Prophets and later with C. Peter Wagner, both of whom have proved to be adept at mainstreaming their ideology.
Catch the Fire [Wikipedia]
In 2006, the Arnotts resigned as senior pastors of TACF to pursue a new ministry, ‘Catch the Fire’. In 2010, Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship was renamed to “Catch The Fire Toronto”, to reflect the ‘fire’ of God spreading to other congregations around the world, unifying them, to go along with its new international church planting vision. (TACF) is a non-denominational neocharismatic Christian church in Toronto, Canada. It is affiliated with Catch The Fire and with Partners in Harvest group of churches. The church is famous as the birthplace and centre of the Toronto Blessing, a prominent religious revival and phenomenon in charismatic Christianity during the 1990s.
Participants in the conferences and meetings sponsored by TACF have reported healings, incidents of personal transformation and a greater awareness of God’s love. It has also been referred to as the Father’s Blessing, the Anointing, the Awakening, the River, the Outpouring and the Fire.
The blessing has become known for ecstatic worship, including what is known as falling or resting in the Spirit, laughter, shaking, and crying. “Holy laughter” was a hallmark manifestation and there were also instances of participants roaring like lions. Another “manifestation of the spirit” encountered at these meetings was a gesture commonly called “crunching” consisting of a vomit-like heaving to “cleanse” and “release” negative experiences. Leaders and participants claim that these are physical manifestations of the Holy Spirit’s presence and power. One TACF teaching, the golden Spoon prophecy, has been spreading among charismatic churches.
Some Christian leaders were enthusiastic about what they saw as a renewal in North Wales Christianity, while others saw it as hysterical and spiritually dangerous. Critics referred to it as “self-centred and evil” and cited the strange manifestations as warning signs. Others defended the blessing as historically rooted in earlier revivals and as having positive effects in the lives of participants.
The New Apostolic Reformation [Wikipedia]
The New Apostolic Reformation is a movement in Protestant Christianity largely associated with the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. The basic thesis asserts that God is restoring the lost offices of church governance, namely the offices of Prophet and Apostle. The New Apostolic Reformation has Pentecostal and Charismatic origins, with those traditions’ interpretations of the nature of the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit within each believer. Unlike some parts of Protestant Christianity, these include the direct revelation of Christ to each believer, prophecy, and the performance of miracles such as healing. Although the movement regards the church as the true body of saved believers, as most Evangelical Protestants do, it differs from the broader Protestant tradition in its view on the nature of church leadership, specifically the doctrine of Five-Fold Ministry, which is based upon a non traditional interpretation of Ep 4:11.
Forrest Wilder, an environment issues writer for the Texas Observer, describes the New Apostolic Reformation as having “taken Pentecostalism, with its emphasis on ecstatic worship and the supernatural, and given it an adrenaline shot.” Wilder adds that beliefs of people associated with the movement “can tend toward the bizarre” and that it has “taken biblical literalism to an extreme.” It has become increasingly involved with government and political activism.
Question: “What is the Toronto Blessing?”
Answer: The Toronto Blessing refers to the supposed outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the people attending the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship Church, which at the time was the Toronto Airport Vineyard Church. On January 20, 1994, a Pentecostal pastor named Randy Clark spoke at the church and gave his testimony of how he would get drunk in the Spirit and laugh uncontrollably. In response to this testimony, the congregation erupted in pandemonium with people laughing, growling, dancing, shaking, barking like dogs, and even some even being stuck in positions of paralysis. These experiences were attributed to the Holy Spirit entering people’s bodies. The pastor of the church, John Arnott, referred to it as a big Holy Spirit party. The moniker “Toronto Blessing” was given, and the church was soon in the international spotlight.
When this “blessing” is held to the light of Scripture, however, it can scarcely be called a blessing; abomination, maybe, but not blessing. Absolutely nowhere in Scripture can one find any precedent for what was happening at the Toronto Airport church, except, perhaps, the physical conditions demon-possessed people suffered. In fact, the Toronto Airport church became so embroiled in emotional outbursts and psychological displays that Pastor Arnott ceased preaching salvation, and instead preached about the party of the Holy Spirit. Experiences were being held in higher authority than Scripture. This was even too much for the already extremely charismatic Vineyard movement, which severed ties with the Toronto Airport church in 1995, prompting the name change to Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship.
A believer’s focus needs to be Jesus Christ, the “author and perfecter of our faith” (He 12:2), not on oneself, one’s experiences, or even the Holy Spirit. The Toronto Blessing focuses on the last, to the detriment of biblical faith. Believers can have fun, dance, sing, even shout to the Lord. However, when a worship service resembles the dream of a demented schizophrenic and attributed to the work of the Holy Spirit, only one word comes to mind: heresy.
Just as it says will happen in the Last Days, there are now many false prophets and false teachers and many claiming to be chosen, etc. What has come to be known as “The Toronto Blessing” but is also known as “Third Wave” “covers a group of many people and groups of people linked to and rooted in the Vineyard, involving a network of Christian evangelists and churches and their followers which has now spread, through very different routes including the ecumenical movement, all over the world, and therefore merits special attention.
The false spirit (Satan) will focus on himself through signs and wonders and the Holy Spirit, these things being easy to manipulate, rather than Jesus and the Gospel. Scripture clearly states that the true Holy Spirit will NOT focus on Himself, but rather the Gospel and then primarily to glorify Christ:
“A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.” (Mt 16:4)
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” (Jn 14:26)
“Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” (Jn 16:7-15)
“According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1Co 3:10-11)
“If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.” (1Ti 6)
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” (2Co 11:13-15)
[Posted by JOB]: So, the FAITHFUL who know well and good that God can perform miracles on the natural order … we praise and glorify God over those things true, but those are not the things that we focus on, not the least because evil spirits can emulate those. Do not be offended! Evil spirits emulated several of the signs and wonders of YHWH in Egypt during their contest with Moses. People follow false religions for a reason! And the Bible itself says that the antiChrist will deceive the whole world with his evil fantastic works, and that but for the grace of God even the very elect would be deceived by him also!
So no, those who truly believe in God are not after by angel feathers, gold dust, and jewels popping up out of thin air! We are not after new visions, revelations, and secrets. Why? The reason is that those things, while impressive to behold, have no lasting value. They are not the things that the kingdom of heaven is built on. So what true believers love to see and hear about are CHANGED HEARTS as evidenced by CHANGED BEHAVIOR.
Unbelievers hearing the gospel and getting saved. People confessing their sins and turning from them rather than using their works, church membership, background, or “anointing” to justify remaining in them. People overcoming the grief of losing a loved one. People forgiving those that have done them grievously wrong. The fearful becoming bold, the haters becoming lovers. THAT is what Christians should seek after and try to participate in. And those are what we Christians should be after.
For it is a certainty that demons can motivate tongues and private prayer languages. That goes on in Hindu temples all the time! I have no doubt that a demon can cure – or at least temporarily alleviate – physical ailments. Were that not the case witch doctors, rootworkers, medicine men and women, etc. would go out of business tomorrow. The same with the diviners, necromancers, fortune tellers, etc. People have been seeking out mighty wonders, strange works, new revelations, etc. ever since man rejected the knowledge of God as Paul told us in Romans 1:1832 for a reason! Not a few missionaries can relate dark spiritual happenings involving the demons that work through those false religions that would curl your hair even if you were bald! Check out “And The Word Came With Power” by missionary Jo Anne Shetler if you doubt.
But an evil spirit cannot save someone’s soul or change their heart! So why put all the emphasis on the things that Satan can imitate while ignoring the things that he cannot? I don’t know about you, but while hearing testimonies about people delivered from asthma personally touch me because I was healed of the same, what I really love hearing about is testimonies of God delivering them from selfishness, hate, pride, lying, meanness, sloth, lust, and irresponsibility, for those character flaws and many more I had them, and let me tell you they were much more destructive to me and those around me than my asthma was! [Posted by JOB]
Article published in The Shepherd: “The Toronto Blessing” by Nick Needham
Falling for the Lie – The Charismatic Deception
Modern Heresy Timeline – The Flow of Current Heretical Beliefs
Personal Testimony of Holy Trinity Brompton
An Assessment of Nicky Gumbel’s Gospel
The Toronto Blessing – Testimonies
The Toronto Blessing, The Bible and the Holy Spirit
We All Fall Down – An Investigation into ‘Slain in the Spirit’
Christianity Today Should Retract Cover Article on NAR Leader Heidi Baker
Invalid reasons for staying in a church teaching false doctrine
Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing In KJV Scripture
Your Church Babylon Or Zion?
Prayer of Release from the Occult and False Religion
Prayer for Spiritual Warfare – Daily
Spiritual Warfare
Truth in Reality 
It’s great that you have a heart to warn people against false doctrines, but can I give a couple of verses which counter your argument against the Toronto blessing.
2 Cor 3:17 says ‘Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom’. There are countless testimonies from Catch the Fire and from people being freed from deep past hurts, meeting their Heavenly Father for the first time, being healed physically, being touched by the Lord to forgive those against whom they have long held bitterness and judgements, healing brocken marriages, finding a deeper relationship with God and finding deeper and deeping freedom.
The enemy is the one who chains people up – and if it were the enemy working in this move of God then the fruit would be more chained up people. Matt 7:16 says ‘By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?’. When you look at the fruit of this ministry it is only good. Jesus Himself said – “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.” Matt 12:25. He said this when people said the works that He was doing was from the devil.
In Acts 2:
These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
In order for them to be accused of being drunk, they must have been acting like this is some way.
Jn 14:16 – And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever– This other Counselor is the Holy Spirit who has been given in order to lead us to truth, lead to Jesus, lead us the Father, lead us to repentance, lead us into intimacy with the God who longs to have intimacy with His children. (Rom 8:16 – The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.) .
Luke 11:11-13 says – “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” In Toronto they are asking constantly for more of the Holy Spirit – so it is impossible according to scripture for our Father to give us the devil when we ask for the Holy Spirit. It it His good pleasure to pour our His Holy Spirit on us.
I agree that we are not to seek after angel feathers, gold dust, and jewels etc. but after the Lord, but what is to stop our Heavenly Father, if he so desires to manifest His presence in a physically tangible way and show us His grace, love and favour in a way that shows the church and shows the world that He is with us. We don’t ask for these things, but he gives them in His love. And as for visions, this is just the Lord speaking directly to our heart in a way that changes our lives. I don’t know about you, but I definately want to hear the Lord’s voice and for Him to speak to me personally. And the fruit of all this, more love for the Lord, deeper sense of acceptance, knowing that we are loved by our Heavenly Father, more passion for His Word, more passionate prayer life – and a burning desire to reach the lost with His love. The more we are touched by His love, the more He can touch those around us…who don’t know His love.
I have personally been really blessed by what I see as a powerful move of God.
God bless you my brother and I pray that you are powerfully touched by His love and His Presence.
I’ve been to this church a few times and a conference. I feel ok, or out of place. I guess i’m asking for help. I’m not sure.
“Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing” is a list of KJV scripture warning us about false teachers and how easy it is for us to be deceived.
Jesus did not say there would be many false teachers in the Last Days but that most would be false teachers. They will tickle people’s ears and tell them what they want to hear, and they are more than able to successfully deceive a large number of people.
The Toronto Blessing is a Christian cult with tentacles all over the world. It includes the ministries of Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Bill Johnson, Patricia King, and many others who are less obviously associated with them, such as Heidi Baker.
There is also the Prophetic Movement and the Prosperity Gospel which includes many other famous names such as Joyce Meyer, Benny Hinn and Creflo Dollar.
There is a global hierarchical network that along with the Roman Catholic church has filtered down to affect pastors at the local Baptist church or Church of England.
We should check everything against the Bible and test the spirits:
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4)
We can pray to ask for more discernment and Milton Green’s sermon on discerning false teachers, can be found here:
Discerning False Teachers by Milton Green
my wife got brainwashed and doesn’t want to listen to anything else…HELP!!
The Toronto Blessing phenomena – for the want of a better word – is of a very deceiving spirit that entices people to the many ministries based on this false teaching. Through various means it has spread its tentacles throughout the world, weaving its way also through some hitherto ordinary Baptist churches and the Church of England, etc.
One of the main ways it has done this is through the Alpha Course with its doctrinal inaccuracies and omissions and Roman Catholic influences and there are some articles about that on this site:
The Alpha Course v The Bible
https://truthinreality.com/category/the-toronto-blessing/
https://truthinreality.com/2012/12/15/modern-heresy-timeline-the-flow-of-current-heretical-beliefs/
There are many written and/or video testimonies of people on the internet who were themselves deceived by ministries founded in the Toronto Blessing, and some can be seen here:
https://truthinreality.com/2012/07/20/the-toronto-blessing-testimonies/
It is common for family members to find it difficult to listen to their own family and find it much easier to hear something from an acquaintance or stranger. So if we are in a situation where a friend or family member has been deceived by false teaching, we should pray against it and ask God to deal with it. We can research to find out how to reach that person to open their eyes in that particular case and the Holy Spirit can help us in that.
False doctrine comes with some nasty demons – some say kundalini demons and leviathan (as described in the Bible) – so one would need to do some spiritual warfare.
To cover oneself in the Blood of Jesus and bind, forbid transference of spirits, and so on.
It could be helpful to listen to specific mass deliverances as found on Youtube or podcasts. Or get specific advice from online deliverance ministries, such as, say, John Kyle at Oasis at Billings, Montana.
Often complete deliverance doesn’t happen overnight and it can take weeks, months or on occasion even years.
We should not ignore demons but neither should we make demons, or fighting them, our focus of attention, but always keep our focus of intention on God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit and the Bible, etc.
I’ve sent her links many times but she doesn’t even want to open it. I try to get her to listen with me to some preachers but she doesn’t want to. The catch the fire is the only thing she believe in. I think that there are so many people like this.
When we came to Canada we were catholics, somebody introduced us to one of those churches and we did believe what pastors were saying……without checking the bible…
Luke 11 NKJV
Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking
9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread[d] from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
In Acts Philip was transported from one place to another. How does that fit in with what you are saying? David danced naked in front of people. How does that fit? He came as a mighty wind with tongues of fire. How does that fit in? If Jesus is same today as yesterday can these things not fit in with what He does today. I agree with the jewels etc and the devil can bring false signs. I have seen them in the past in yoga. Let’s not put the Holy Spirit in a box and deny His power in our lives. Laurie
My mother was introduced to this “church” last year by someone not well known by the rest of the family. It has torn our family apart. It started becoming very alarming when she had contributed thousands of dollars to this “church” without informing my father. When asked she became very defensive and outraged. She is going to their conference tonight and indiacted she had to bring $60 to enter…we had tried to get her to speak with our original curch’s pastor but she is not rational at all. Catch the Fire is destroying my family…
They are the best
how do I remove hair from my toes
Thank you for writing this. I grew up in the 1990s in a neo-charismatic church in southern Oregon that was entirely modeled on the 1994 Toronto revival and followed every word and movement of the Kansas City Prophets. Almost every service was as strange as the events of the Toronto Blessing you describe. As a child I accepted it as normal because I was told to and I knew nothing different. My parents spent excessive amounts of money supporting guest speakers, donating to the church, hosting VIPs, and chasing every conference or revival meeting with the label “healing, signs, prophetic” etc. As a child I was “homeschooled” so this was my life. We never read the Bible. We were never taught Biblical narratives, parables, or principles. I didn’t understand theology, or even what salvation was or why Jesus died for me. I was never taught the gospel. The only scripture I really knew was from the good natured Sunday school teachers who volunteered at our church, who did in fact read the Bible. But they eventually left because of abuse. I was never taught ethics, such as what true humility is or why it’s important to be honest. Instead, I learned that God was a distant entity who spoke to prophets at varying levels, that the Holy Spirit was a force that manifested in bizarre ways, that this concept of the Holy Spirit was the most important part of the trinity, that you needed to pay money and fly out to conferences in order to hear God, who only spoke to you if you were elite enough to hear him. I learned a lot of strange lingo. I learned that prayer was a big flashy show that usually involved physical demonstrations and wild performances. I had no idea even how to read the Bible because my mom, and these leaders, read it in a spotty, proof-texty order. I learned that I would repeatedly lose things I loved simply because a “prophet” criticized it. I also saw that these “elite” men would repeatedly verbally abuse my mom, yet she continued to view their words as though they really were directly from God himself. They were never just human beings who could be wrong like all of us. This led to abuse without accountability.
In my opinion it is obvious that the movement that started in Toronto was focused on the wrong things and lost sight of all the things I believe mattered most to Jesus and the core reasons why he lived and died. But I’m not interested in debating whether it had a basis in scripture or in church history, or whether any part of it was orthodox or heresy, since I spent my entire childhood surrounded by people justifying it. What I do want to say is that I lived and grew up in the very real negative consequences of this movement, this way of thinking about God and spirituality, and it was truly destructive to my life and my family. If I were to sum up why in a few words, it was because it elevated the words of humans to the status of the divine and encouraged people to practice uncritical acceptance and blind faith. Regardless of how one attempts to justify it, this is always dangerous and harmful.
Thank you for that clear and powerful testimony.
People who condemn Toronto Blessing, you forgot what the Fear of God is. Be warned: you have committed unforgettable sin, for Toronto Blessing is the work of the Holy Spirit (i have attended the church and know that it is a true church of God, 100% based on the Word of God, teaching from the Bible, not allowing anything except the Gospel to be taught, and the fruit of the church is good: it is a community of true believers in Christ, and God is still present there.
Matthew 12:31-33 KJV:
Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
Any right-minded person who watches the video can discern that what is shown there is absolutely not the Holy Spirit.
This article describes the Holy Spirit in detail purely from KJV Bible passages.
The True Holy Spirit
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)
The Toronto Blessing is demonic and not the holy spirit. It is not blasphemy to speak the truth. It is actually the worship of Satan transplanted into a Christian structure where the holy spirit is constrained and held in subjection (spiritually abused, just like the members of the church are). The true holy spirit is gentle and kind and is not able to be wielded nor does it overpower those in whom it dwells but rather fills them with Life. It’s easy to tell the difference!
I speak from experience, recently attending a fire conference out of curiosity (I also witnessed the TB about 20 years ago and it’s the same falsehood). Things have gotten worse. The self appointed leaders are not anointed, they use emotional manipulation techniques to lord it over the congregation as they pervert the gospel. some of what they say is true, of course, but absolutely nothing can excuse the introduction of demonic worship into an assembly of Christ
I heard mocking laughter, pitiful wails, shrieks and all kinds of signs of possession in the poor souls caught up in this. No true happiness, no inner peace, no brotherly love. Just chains
If you are in this, make your move and escape God will make a way to help you, and won’t blame you for being deceived. The true gospel is so very different and beautiful, like the one we worship!
As to what this phony movement wants, who knows? But it is amazing how many of those in positions of authority accept it. Even the Pope has embraced Charismatics into his church and they bring with them this Toronto deception. The Alpha course in the UK (Church of England of which the Queen is the head) embraced it from the start. I could go on… the blind lead the blind
Sooner or later we’ll be called to decide who we follow, and who we will forsake. Pray to Jesus to help ensure you get it round the right way and he will help you before you know it.
You guys all make me laugh 🙂 “The Toronto Blessing is demonic and not the holy spirit.” I used to be like this. I listened to discernment ministries and just believed everything they said, in the spirit of being “biblical”. Then I joined a Catch The Fire church local to me and realized that the people really do love God, the Gospel, and want nothing more than to bring glory to Him. I got to know people personally who were touched by the Toronto Blessing, and I have never seen greater love for Jesus in my life. The kind of love for God that I WANT. I have been mostly involved with Reformed churches who love God and His Word, but are not as consumed by the love of God as I have ever seen.
I began to realize that the reason I thought they were all “heretics” was because I had a few presuppositions:
1.) God doesn’t perform hearings, signs and wonders today, so I shouldn’t see them
2.) God can’t ever reveal anything outside the pages of Scripture; otherwise you are adding to the Bible (hold on a second before you throw stones at me)
3.) People can’t possible react to God with shaking, falling, laughing, etc. because that is demonic
What I now understand is that God is God, and while I know that he will not contradict his Word, I cannot condemn something just because it’s “not in the Bible” or because it looks strange or weird. With that argument, I’d have to start condemning all churches with pews, all churches with organs,sunday school, youth groups, etc. because it’s “not in the Bible”. So if I know a person’s heart, that he/she loves God and trusts in Christ for their forgiveness of sins, yet also physically reacts to the presence of God and is caught up in worship, I can only then judge the fruit of that person’s life. I personally have experienced this on a few levels since opening myself up to an experience of God, and I can testify that my love for Christ and his Word has only increased. Hasn’t this been the testimony of so many revivals?
I used to condemn so many people/churches but once I slowed down and really listened to them and examined the fruit being borne, I now rejoice at the amazing work of revival that God is doing all around the world. I am learning to translate what I know in my head about God into a personal, experiential relationship with Him. He is a PERSON to relate to, isn’t he? Not just a theological concept or idea.
Sorry, I could go on and on about this subject and it’s hard to convey it all in writing. I am sure that many of you would have arguments against teachings of Bethel, Jesus Culture, The Toronto Blessing movements, etc. and I am open to them. But I still think many of it comes down to being close-minded to God doing things that can’t be found in a specific Bible passage, while being things that don’t particularly CONTRADICT Scripture either.
PETER’S HEALING SHADOW, THE HEALING HAND KERCHIEFS OF PAUL, PHILP FLYING TO AZOTUS, THE DRUNKEN APPEARNCE OF THE 120 IN THE UPPER ROOM, WOULD MAKE THESE GUYS TO APPEAR HERITIC , FALSE AND DEMONIC IF THEY HAPPENED IN OUR DAYS.
I WANT YOU GOD’S PEOPLE TO AS WELL KNOW THAT HE IS A GOD OF SIGNS AND WONDERS AND HE IS NOT OF UNIFORMITY,. HE HAS TURNED RODS INTO SNAKES, RAINED DOWN MANNA, FILLED TEMPLES WITH CLOUDS OF GLORY, HEALED BY MIXING SOIL WITH SALIVA ETC. ALL THESE LOOK OR SOUND STRANGE TO MOST CONTEMPORARY THEOLOGIANS ESPECIALY FROM THE WESTERN WORLD WHO HAVE LITTLE EXPERIENCE WITH THE SUPER NATURAL AND IN MOST CASES LOOK AT THE WORKS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT FROM A CRITCAL POINT OF VIEW MOST OF THE TIME. IN MOST REVIVALS THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS MANIFESTED IN AN UNUSUAL WAYS RIGH FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT TIMES ,THROUGH THE NEW AND UP TO TODAY. WE SHOULD JUDGE BY THE FRUIT NOT THE MANIFESTATIONS. AS LONGAS THEY ARE TEACHING THE TRUTH OF THE WORD OF GOD FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, PEOPLE REPENTNG AND LIVES ARE BEING TRANSFORMED AND DELIVERED FROM BONDAGES THATS WHAT MATTERS .
The Bible says that in the last days, not many will be false teachers, but most. They will show “lying signs and wonders”.
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I was in an evangelical church involved in the Toronto Blessing on the mid-1990s, and nothing but good came out of it. The Bible was still preached, worship still took place, but there was space given to the Holy Spirit manifesting Himself. Young people did not have to be cajoled to turn up at church, but came early in case the church got full. And they expected God to turn up and have something to say to us! I have seen the most unlikely people end up laughing, crying, making strange noises and falling on the floor but they didn’t end up going weird, they were perfectly normal when chatting later, it was just a manifestation for that time. After a while the Toronto blessing tended to dwindle, and not being a church which tried to force things, we had to accept that. I am always profoundly grateful that my family experienced this. Not believing or not having experienced this is one thing, but calling all these things satanic delusions just because they don’t fit with ones personal theology is, in my opinion, extremely dangerous spiritually showing great pride and judgmentalism.
Looking for Parts 2 and 3 if Alpha Exposed! Attend a Catholic Church and just finished the Aloha Course! Concerned and am doing some research! Thank you in advance for your help!
The Truth Concerning Holy Trinity Brompton
The Alpha Split if you only have a few minutes