THE LAUGHING PHENOMENA
Its History and Possible Effects
on the Church
PART 6: The End of the Birth Pangs
By Ed Tarkowski
New Ager Barbara Marx Hubbard says that the crisis in the world will
result in the birth of Homo Universalis: a corporate humanity that has
realized its godhood. The Latter Rain doctrine teaches that Christ is about
to be birthed, or incarnated, into our world as a corporate man. And both
New Age and Latter Rain leaders agree that this birth must occur now, in
order to calm the sea of crisis and usher in a kingdom of peace and tranquility.
They say that the establishment of this Kingdom will result in the coming
of Christ to the world. Yet the Bible speaks of the return of Christ, not
as a birth within a corporate, human vessel, but as a personal, visible
return in glory, salvation and wrath. Who, then, are these two children
about to be birthed into the world? Or, is it really one?
A FINAL SYNOPSIS
1. The Laughing phenomena has leapt like wildfire from Rodney Howard-Browne
through John Wimber's Vineyard churches and the majority of charismatic
ministries. Charles and Frances Hunter, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin,
Richard Roberts, Wallace and Marilyn Hickey, Jill Austin's Master Potter
Ministries, End-time Handmaidens, Judson Cornwall, Glenn Foster, and Morris
Cerullo have all embraced the new movement. Paul Crouch, who has openly
said that he believes we are in the time of the Latter Rain, is spreading
the phenomena worldwide through his Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN).
Pat Robertson of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) has also applauded
the laughing phenomena, and says that the impregnation of the Church is
crucial to worldwide revival; he predicts a billion souls will be saved.
But it isn't only charismatic or parachurch ministries who have "caught
the fire." The laughing movement has penetrated denominations across the
board.
2. New, evolutionary "revelations" of the newly restored prophets and
apostles of the Latter Rain undergird this "move of God." Key to discerning
Latter Rain doctrine is understanding replacement theology, in which the
Church has replaced Israel and is now itself Abraham's corporate seed destined
to take his blessings to the nations in a frenzy of joy and celebration.
As a result of this replacement, the tribulation period and its prophesied
events are eliminated and a different series of events takes its place
- a cleansing of evil from the earth in order to establish the Kingdom
of God, AFTER which Christ returns.
3. As the "new Israel," the Church has progressed through the Feasts
of Atonement (Passover) and Pentecost and is now entering the time when
God will laugh in His people as they celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
Finally, through Tabernacles "raised to a higher power" by Jubilee, the
Church will be given a four-fold blessing: 1) a globally united Church,
2) a one billion-soul endtime harvest, 3) the rise and immortalization
of the Manifest Sons of God (Joel's Army) who will cleanse the earth of
evil and destroy the Babylonian religious system (denominations), and 4)
the establishment of the Kingdom of God by the Church.
4. The Latter Rain teaching proliferating throughout the Church via
the laughing phenomena closely parallels the New Age doctrine of Barbara
Marx Hubbard's Christ (see sidebar). As the spirits of this age take control
of the Church, the meshing of the two philosophies will be an easy accomplishment.
The major vehicle for bringing about a worldwide religion will be what
Hubbard calls a "Planetary Pentecost," the New Age counterpart to Latter
Rain's Tabernacles and Great Jubilee 2000. As these two strands merge,
mankind's realization of its godhood will result in the manifestation of
"Christ" himself.
THE BIRTH PANGS
The birth of a corporate "child" to the world and the Church is being proclaimed
by both camps as a time of New Beginnings, the initiation of our Common
Future, and the advent of the Church's Manifest Sons and their New Age
counterpart, Homo Universalis. In both scenarios, this same "child," not
mentioned in Scripture, will bring about the first global civilization.
New Age Theosophist Alice Bailey wrote,
"The New Age is upon us, and we are witnessing the birth pangs of the new
culture and the new civilization. This is now in progress. That which is
old and undesirable must go and of these undesirable things, hatred and
the spirit of separation must be the first to go."(1)
Just as John the Revelator was shocked when he saw the scarlet woman
on the beast, so today many Christians are shocked that out of this Latter
Rain "move of God" has come a Church witnessing the birth pangs described
by Alice Bailey rather than those Jesus predicted in Matthew 24:8: "All
these are the beginning of birth pangs." The Scriptural birth pangs will
progress into the hard labor of "great tribulation" experienced by the
Church and Israel, culminating in the glorious return of Jesus Christ with
power and great glory. Conversely, the New Age/Latter Rain birth pangs
are "witnessed," not "experienced" by these two groups. It is the "undesirable"
ones, clearly the biblical Christians with a "spirit of separation," who
are slated to experience the pain.
CHRISTIANITY PROCLAIMS THE BIRTH OF ONE CHILD
The new revelations are being raised above God's revelation in Scripture,
as if we're allowed to accept alternatives. But God's word concerning birthing
is either complete or it is not. Scripture says:
1) all men are BORN sinners.
2) God's Son was BORN in the flesh to die for our salvation.
3) we must be BORN AGAIN of the Spirit by placing our faith in Christ's
sacrifice, resurrection, glorification and personal, visible return.
God says His revelation is complete in Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2; Col.
2:9-10) and must be contended for, as it stands, as delivered to the saints
once and for all 2,000 years ago (Jude 3).
WHY A SECOND "NEW BIRTH"?
Alice Bailey was not the only one to speak of "birth pangs" that will result
in the manifestation of a peaceable kingdom. Let's look again at the Church's
modern day prophets who promise the birth of a "child" who will establish
the kingdom. John Wimber, the founder of Vineyard Churches, commented that
we should respond to the spirit of the laughing phenomena just as Mary
did when she was impregnated by the Holy Spirit:
"I think that the response of Mary to the visitation of the angel is classic:
'be it done to me according to thy will.' I'm afraid the church today does
not pray with that kind of acceptance in mind. I mean Mary was given the
most incredible proposition that any human being in all the history of
mankind was given: 'the Holy Spirit will come upon you and overshadow you
and you will be with child'... acknowledging our sin, we should be saying
'Oh God, we need you. Come any way you want to, even if it puzzles us,
even if it confounds us, COME.'"(2)
One can almost feel the travail and desperation in this cry: "Oh
God, we need you. Come any way you want to, even if it puzzles us, even
if it confounds us, COME.'" But the Holy Spirit doesn't have to COME to
the Church in ways that puzzle us, such as causing us to be with child.
He already indwells the Church, and Jesus said that indwelling would be
forever. Wimber's words are quite a contrast to the proclamation of the
Church in vital union and relationship with the Spirit in John's vision:
"The Spirit and bride say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!'"
(Rev. 22:17).
Wimber also likens the animal noises heard during the laughing meetings
to the birthing process:
"I think we're all delighted with babies but I don't think very many of
us want to attend the birthing process. And I believe what we have in the
church is a birthing process. I believe the Holy Spirit has chosen to visit
and revitalize the church and with it there's all kinds of noises and activities
that would be best done behind closed doors [like a birth], but church
is an open activity and God has chosen to visit the church. I'm a little
puzzled myself by some of the things that God chooses to reveal publicly,
aren't you? . . . I don't have any more explanation or idea of what it
means than anybody else, but I love the after-effect, just as I love babies
but am confused by the birthing process, but I love what happens afterwards."(3)
There is no "birthing process" with manifestations of animal noises
in all of Scripture. Furthermore, God doesn't "visit" the Church; He indwells
its individual members in a daily, personal relationship. The Christian
who has been born again by the Spirit of God is fed by the word and learns
daily to walk as Christ did, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. What
is happening through the "Toronto Blessing" is not found in Scripture,
which is why this process causes confusion and cannot be explained. Jesus
said we would know the truth and that the truth would set us free, not
leave us puzzled to the point of wrenching His body in two.
In another instance, after Brian Mode had a vision (while roaring like
a lion) he announced that God said, "'I'm going to then IMPREGNATE and
through the IMPREGNATION will then come NEW BIRTH,' and we're in the romancing
and IMPREGNATION stage right now but we've got to pray in and cry out for
the harvest."(4)
But Peter wrote to the Church, "For you have been born again, not of perishable
seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God"
(1 Peter 1:23). The god that prophesied through Mode is introducing another
"new birth" to those already born again, yet Scripture speaks of no spirit
impregnating the Church. This is a deception. In John 3, Jesus said we
must be born again. He made no mention of a second "new birth."
GOD'S REALITY AND NEW REVELATIONS
Morris Cerullo wrote "God has revealed to me revelations . . . of His Spirit,
of His endtime, so sacred . . . . You never heard this word preached anywhere.
I will make you pregnant with My reality. . . . The Holy Spirit is the
part of God that will manifest the pregnancy in your being."(5) But a basic
fact of the Christian faith is that the Holy Spirit is already the reality
of God in our being. Where in Scripture does God promise new endtime revelations
leading to an impregnation of the Church with God's reality? The Church
is forever one with the living God by the Holy Spirit through faith in
Christ! We are His family, His body, His temple. Cerullo's words add to
God's word concerning the reality of His oneness with us. They are a deception
and, if believed and acted upon, open the Christian to reception of another
spirit, another message and another Jesus:
(2 Corinthians 11) 3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the
serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere
and pure devotion to Christ.
4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus
we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received,
or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily
enough.
In a new revelation similar to Cerullo's, Glen Foster revealed that
he and Judson Cornwall had been impregnated by God with "truth that is
not now being taught." This is the same deception, although Foster's revelation
is more selective. His impregnation was meant for God's "mature, older
ministers" who could be trusted "to carry that truth to full gestation
and have the patience to raise it up once it is delivered."(6) Again, God's
word is silent on any such impregnation being added to Scripture. God does
not impregnate His people with "new" truth. He moves in their lives as
they fulfill their responsibility of reading His revealed truth on a regular
basis.
THE GROWING GOD IN HIS PEOPLE
Wallace Hickey's prophetic word is likewise found nowhere in Scripture.
The "Spirit" prophesied through him during a Rodney Howard-Browne service
that, "God is new and He's a growing person as anything that is alive.
. . . Just let God be God in you as a child, as a child be. God would will
that the whole of everyone in eternity would be like He is, never old,
ever young, growing, a growing thing."(7) This "prophetic revelation" gives
some interesting twists to biblical truth. Rather than Christians growing
to maturity in God, God is a growing child in us, "as anything . . . a
growing thing." Hickey's words introduce into the Church another god, rather
than the unchangeable, all-knowing, omnipresent God of Scripture who is
complete in Himself, and makes us complete in Christ at the time of salvation.
ISAAC, LAUGHTER WITH US
As though such a proclamation would legitimize the current laughing phenomena,
a prophetic word from Master Potter Ministries introduces another spirit
into the Church, the child "Isaac":
"Prophetically, the child Isaac, which means 'Laughter,' is being released
in nation after nation as the new wine is being passed."(8) But the truth
of Scripture is that when Jesus Christ atoned for sin and was seated at
God's right hand, He released the Holy Spirit into the world to glorify
Him and draw men to Him through the preaching of the gospel. The Holy Spirit
has been here ever since to do that. There is no reason for "Isaac" to
be released into the nations to make men drunk with laughter through a
new revelation. This prophetic word is a deception and opens the door for
another spirit to enter into people's lives (see 2 Corinthians 4 above).
The birth of Christ, His finished work, the sending of the Spirit and Christ's
coming in judgement to reign on earth is clearly spelled out in Scripture.
"Isaac," released as laughter into the nations, is not. It is another deception,
a poor imitation of the biblical revelation that Jesus Christ is "Emmanuel,
God with us."
THE MANCHILD COMPANY
The End-time Handmaidens prophesied that "God is sending a revival of joy
to awaken and renew the Church so that she can bring forth the 'man-child'
of joy, even the army of overcomers who will go forth in the likeness and
image of the Lord in these last days."(9) This is also a deception. There
is no scriptural basis in the Old or New Testament for an endtime army
of God as proposed by the Latter Rain doctrine. Rather, the celestial signs
of Joel 2:10-11 place the Lord's army with Him at the time of His personal,
visible return in the sky. These verses find their New Testament prophetic
counterpart in Matthew 24:19-30, Revelation 6:12-17, and 19:11-16, especially
v. 14.
Another influential teacher, Francis Frangipane of River of Life Ministries,
teaches that Christ must incarnate into the Church as a corporate entity.
Likening the Church to the virgin Mary, he speaks of it as being pregnant
and ready to birth a corporate child that will manifest on earth the maturity
of the Head in heaven. Frangipane writes:
"Secure this thought in your mind: when the Spirit of Christ comes into
the physical world, He must enter through a physical body . . . When Christ
first entered our world as a child, it was Mary whom God chose to give
Christ birth. Mary's life symbolized the qualities the Church must possess
to walk in the fullness of Christ . . . [God is preparing us] as He did
Mary to give birth to the ministry of His Son. Even now, in the spiritual
womb of the virgin Church, the holy purpose of Christ is growing, awaiting
maturity; ready to be born in power in the timing of God . . . the virgin
Church is 'in labour and in pain to give birth' (Rev 12:1-2) . . . even
now, hell trembles and the heavens watch in awe, for I say to you, once
again, the virgin is with child. Before Jesus Himself returns, the last
virgin Church shall become pregnant with the promise of God. Out of her
travail, the Body of Christ shall come forth, raised to the full stature
of its Head, the Lord Jesus. Corporately manifested in holiness, power
and love, the Bride of Christ shall arise."(10)
Ignoring the traditional interpretation of the woman in Revelation
12:1-5 (Israel giving birth to Christ), Frangipane moves Israel aside to
bring in his new revelation: the woman is the virgin Church about to give
birth to the manchild, the corporate man of Joel's Army. Surprisingly,
Pope John Paul II might even agree with Fragipane:
"Mary . . . should inspire all who cooperate in the Church's apostolic
mission for the rebirth of humanity. . . The Church journeys through time
. . . along the path already trodden by the Virgin Mary."(11)
Recently, the pope expanded on this theme:
"Since the publication of the very first document of my pontificate I have
spoken explicitly of the Great Jubilee, suggesting that the time leading
up to it be lived as "a new Advent." . . . The purpose is to emphasize
what the Spirit is suggesting to the different communities, from the smallest
ones, such as the family, to the largest ones, such as nations and international
organizations, taking into account cultures, societies and sound traditions.
Despite appearances, humanity continues to await the revelation of the
children of God and lives by this hope, like a mother in labor, to use
the image employed so powerfully by St. Paul in his Letter to the Romans
(cf. 8:19-22)."(12)
IT IS TIME TO BIRTH THE BABY
Other Christians are convinced that the time of travail for the birth of
this child is over, that it is now time to birth the baby:
* ESTHER INILSKI (Overseer for global intercession) - Reporter Chris
Mitchell, CBN: "Esther Inilski oversees a prayer network for global intercession.
She says many intercessors describe the times we're in like a spiritual
pregnancy."
Esther Inilski: "We talk about revival and birthing, using that term as
well. And, yes, this baby's been in the womb a long, long time and we're
saying we've got to get this baby birthed. And we believe, yes, that God's
time has arrived."(13)
* WES CAMPBELL (Vineyard Pastor) praying for a participant at a
recent meeting - "Yes . . . amen . . . yes Lord, ooohh . . . yes, the Holy
glory is on you Matthew, the Holy glory . . . That's right! That's right!,
and Father we pray that you'd put an anointing of a preacher on Matthew,
an anointing of fire, let the coals come from the altar of the Lord, Matthew,
and touch your lips, and Lord I pray for faith and ignition, let fire come
out of his stomach Lord, let the fire of God come on his back. And Lord
I pray that Matthew would stand up in faith, that's true faith, Matthew,
believe it! IT'S THE TIME TO BIRTH THE BABY. It's the time for the outpouring
of the Spirit. Believe it! Lord I pray for faith that when Matthew says,
'This is the time!' It's not 'I hope it's the time,' . . . 'it might be
the time.' THIS IS THE TIME! . . ."(14)
Old Testament Scripture foretold the birth of Christ, His earthly ministry,
His death and resurrection, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and His return
to rule the nations. And when Jesus did come the first time, Israel knew
the time was near according to the Scriptures.
We, the modern Church, have entered into the blessings promised in the
Old Testament, and we, too, possess the Scriptures. Since the time of the
early Church, interpretation of those Scriptures concerning the time between
Jesus' two comings favored an age of proclaiming the gospel of salvation,
eventually reaching the time of Jacob's Trouble in Israel. This period
of time, called the Great Tribulation, would be followed by Jesus' personal,
visible return to glorify the Church and judge and rule the world. The
Bible's prophecies of the tribulation period and the rise of a personal
antichrist, persecuting the Church and Israel while ruling a united world,
gave us a pretty good picture of what to expect.
We should be asking questions: How does Wes Campbell or anybody
else involved in the laughing movement know that "it's the time to birth
the baby"? Where does the Old Testament promise such a powerful, global
move of God that affects the nations with such diverse manifestations?
And where in the New Testament is this mentioned among prophecies yet to
be fulfilled, including the persecution of the Jews, the entrance into
the temple by antichrist, the battle of Armageddon and the return of Christ
in the midst of great tribulation?
Where does Scripture foretell the birthing of a baby that brings laughter
to the nations through the corporate Church? Why didn't God tell Paul or
Peter or James or John to write an epistle on this move that would so redefine
the Church in the last days? For that matter, how can the Church even be
redefined when Jesus Christ is its life? Why wasn't Tabernacles mentioned
as the Feast through which a harvest of revival would come, along with
the manifestation of the Sons of God, the cleansing of the earth and the
establishment of the Kingdom before Christ's return? And why wasn't Jesus
revealed to John as "the Beginning, the New Beginning and the End"? There
is so much that is clearcut in Scripture, yet none of these things are
mentioned. Why?
NEW AGE PROCLAIMS THE BIRTH OF A CHILD
There is no biblical support for the impregnation and birth of a corporate
child incarnating Christ. But such a thing can be found in the New Age
belief that mankind will realize its godhood as one body. Simply reading
the following should make this obvious:
* PIERRE TIELHARD DE CHARDIN (Jesuit) - "Sooner or later souls will
end by giving themselves to the religion which activates them most as human
beings."(15)
"After what will soon be 2,000 years, Christ must be born again, he must
be reincarnated in a world that has become too different from that in which
he lived."(16)
* TOM SINE (Futurist) - "Giving birth! What imagery could remind
us more compellingly of the agony of our journey or unleash such a wild
hope within us for our common future? As we have anticipated the avalanche
of change rushing toward us, it would be easy to focus on the pain, trauma,
and ordeal of the birth process and never look forward to the birth of
the new.
"But where can we turn to find hope for the future? Where can we find any
hint, any assurance, that something new is being born? Where can we find
a confident hope that helps us not only to make it through troubled times,
but also to engage the emerging challenges of a new century creatively?"(17)
* M. SCOTT PECK (New Age Christian) - "When I think of all that
is required to bring an end to the arms race - not only the changes in
individual styles and attitudes, but . . . the willingness of the nation
to relinquish its external sovereignty to a supra-national agency - it
seems to me that a virtual Second Coming is required. In fact, that is
what it's all about. With all due respect to the traditional millennialists,
I think what is meant by the Second Coming is not the bodily return of
that one solitary man, but the coming of the mystical body of His True
Church; the coming of the spirit of Christ to everyone, sweeping through
the nations, sweeping through the world. Father, make us like Mary . .
. to give birth to Your Son; to give Him to everyone. This is the time
of the Second Coming. Whether we like it or not. There's no alternative
except self-annihilation. . . . It is the time of the Second Coming. 'Here
and now we're chosen to be, to reveal His grace that all then may see.'
It's either give birth to Jesus or else. The time when we must choose is
upon us. Father, make us like Mary."(18)
* MATTHEW FOX (Dominican, Director of the Institute in Culture and Creation
Spirituality) - "Indeed, the birthing of the Cosmic Christ is the purpose
of the incarnation. . . . Divinity wants to birth the Cosmic Christ in
each and every individual."(19)
* BARBARA MARX HUBBARD (Futurist, a founder of the Foundation for Conscious
Evolution) - "'Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep; but
we shall all be changed.' Omega! The planetary birth is a real event in
cosmic time. . . . that is really happening to us now!"(20)
Barbara Marx Hubbard draws on the Book of Revelation as a base for her
New Age prophecies. The Latter Rain has interpreted the word of God according
to New Age principles. The two will mesh; they are already compatible.
Both look to Abraham and Sarah's child. Both have usurped the place of
Israel. Both speak of the birthing of a corporate body of people who, having
realized Christification, will cleanse the earth of evil and establish
a kingdom of peace. Both are declaring a celebration of joy in which the
corporate child will come forth. Hopefully, before the final merging of
the two, the Church will realize we have lost the simplicity of a Lamb
slain for sin. Hopefully, we will return to the proclamation of that Lamb's
resurrection, because He is going to return in judgement.
JUBILEE AND CHRIST'S 2000TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION WILL BE ONE EVENT
The various strands of the Latter Rain/New Age scenario for the end of
this age have been woven together into an intricate banner announcing the
celebration of Tabernacles and Jubilee. But another thread now being added
to the design spells out a place name, the city in which the banner must
be planted - Jerusalem. One of the gatherings being planned for the Holy
City is JERUSALEM CELEBRATION 2000, to be held February 7-11, 1996. Dr.
Paul Yonggi Cho, one of the Celebration's promoters, recently announced
that many thousands of delegates would come to Jerusalem "from all over
the world." Robert Schuller, scheduled to pray for the nations during the
celebration, said, "Jerusalem Celebration 2000 may go down in the history
of Christendom as the most exciting celebration of the birth of our Lord
Jesus Christ!" According to the promotional material, a host of other speakers
will include Jack Hayford (Church on the Way), C. Peter Wagner (co-ordinator
of the AD2000 United Prayer Track) and Tom Pelton, who is "founder and
president of March for Jesus USA and is the March for Jesus Coordinator
for the Americas with responsibility for the entire Western Hemisphere.(21)
These last three men are closely knit with Jay Gary through AD2000 programs.
Sounding much like Pope John Paul II and Jay Gary in his vision for a soon-coming
spiritually-united kingdom, Dr. Cho said, "I pray that this spectacular
event will bring a renewed love and unity among the peoples of the world."(22)
So Christians are going to Jerusalem to begin celebrating Jesus'
2000th birthday, just as Jay Gary has proposed. Others will travel to the
Holy City to celebrate Tabernacles which, according to Gary, will be "raised
to a higher power" in the Year of Jubilee. And the pope is headed for Jerusalem
in an all-out effort to bring the corporate Church into full communion
for Jubilee. The interweaving of these three themes in Jerusalem will center
on Jubilee as a celebration of the birth of Christ. Two questions must
be asked: Is the manifestation of the Sons of God through Tabernacles being
timed to come during Jubilee? And will the city of Jerusalem be prematurely
exalted as the dwelling of God? Of this we can be sure: the two events
are being tied together. Leaning on Catholic rather Jewish tradition, Jay
Gary describes how Jubilee has already been linked to the birth of Christ:
"A tradition developed that the Jubilee year began on Christmas Eve with
the opening of a sealed golden door in St. Peter's Basilica. It affirmed
that as the pope struck the holy door with a golden hammer, living streams
of grace and pardon from Christ, the rock, were released. The inheritance
of the fathers was restored to the sons. . . .
"Like the biblical Jubilee year, the coming bimillennial should be a time
of reconciliation and celebration before God. This ordinary year, A.D,
2000, needs to be celebrated in an extraordinary way, particularly in light
of Jesus' 2,000th birthday."(23)
This linkage was furthered in the papal statement on Jubilee issued
last November 10th, in which the pope suggested that "the time leading
up to the [Year of Jubilee] be lived as 'a new Advent.'" He wrote,
"The first phase . . . is meant to revive in the Christian people an awareness
of the value and meaning of the Jubilee of the Year 2000 in human history.
As a commemoration of the birth of Christ, the jubilee is deeply charged
with Christological significance. . ."(24)
"A jubilee is always an occasion of special grace, 'a day blessed by the
Lord.' As has already been noted, it is thus a time of joy. The Jubilee
of the Year 2000 is meant to be a great prayer of praise and thanksgiving,
especially for the gift of the incarnation of the Son of God and of the
redemption which he accomplished."(25)
WE MUST REALIZE WHAT IS HAPPENING: JUBILEE = PLANETARY PENTECOST
Do we realize what is happening? We've already said that every Christian
in every denomination is being pointed towards Jubilee. In a nutshell,
this is how it's being done:
1. The replacement theology of the Latter Rain apostles and prophets
has permeated great numbers of charismatic groups and traditional denominations.
Now Latter Rain, closely associated with the laughing phenomena, has set
up the Feast of Tabernacles as the great Christian celebration which will
culminate in the manifestation of the Sons of God. And in their most recent
appropriation of Israel's relationship with the Father, Latter Rain teachers
are planning a Great Jubilee for the Year 2000.
2. Pope John Paul II, who is forcefully steering his church toward full
communion with other denominations and into dialogue with major non-Christian
religions, has long been pursuing a Year of Jubilee in 2000.
3. Jay Gary is heavily promoting his Jubilee, which centers around Jesus'
2000th birthday. Gary, with a finger in nearly every Restoration pie, dreams
of a Third Millennium in a world made new apart from the visible, personal
return of Christ.
Each of these moves is heading toward a global unity within a celebration,
which perfectly sets the stage for the appearing of the Manifest Sons of
God. This fact is disturbing enough, but it's only half of the picture.
The other part is that the same stage is being prepared for the New
World Religion which New Ager Earnest Ramsey equated with Latter Rain.
As you recall, Ramsey was excited that the Age of Aquarius, with its global
unity of peoples and religions and its redistribution of the world's wealth,
was paralleled by Latter Rain's Feast of Tabernacles and Year of Jubilee.
Furthermore, Barbara Marx Hubbard's Christ, who will instantaneously manifest
in prepared New Agers as one new man, or Homo Universalis, is slated to
appear during a time of global unity within a celebration of joy.
We ask again: Do we realize what is happening? The celebration of Jubilee,
which doesn't belong to the Church or the New Age or even under the headship
of Rome, is setting up the perfect conditions for the simultaneous manifestations
of the Latter Rain's Sons of God and the New Age's Homo Universalis. How
can this be? BECAUSE THE LATTER RAIN FEAST OF TABERNACLES WAS DRAWN FROM
THE SAME DOCTRINE AS THE NEW AGE PLANETARY PENTECOST. In reality, it is
the same celebration viewed from two perspectives - New Age or celebrating
Christian.
Hubbard describes the New Age side of this manifestation, and its effect
on the whole world:
"An uncontrollable joy will ripple through the thinking layer of Earth.
The co-creative systems, which are lying psychologically dormant in humanity,
will be activated. From within, all sensitive persons will feel the joy
of the force, flooding their systems with love and attraction, It will
be as irresistible as sex.. . .
"As this joy flashes through the nervous systems of the most sensitive
peoples on Earth, it will create a psycho-magnetic field of empathy, which
will align the next wave of people in synchrony, everywhere on Earth. This
massive, sudden empathetic alignment will cause a shift in the consciousness
of Earth."(26)
"The great Instant of Co-operation. . . . will come to the peoples of Earth
together in one instant of time. . . .
". . . . It means all of you co-experiencing the same force at the same
time and acting together in accord with the idea that you have from within.
"It means transcending the experience of self-consciousness. The walls
will come down everywhere on Earth. You will fall irresistibly in love
with yourselves as one body born into the universe seeking greater awareness
of your Creator."(27)
From the celebrating Christian perspective, Alan Vincent said God
told him He was moving the Church into Tabernacles, and it would be God's
laughter which would shake the whole world:
"But I tell you what God said to me was, He said, 'Alan, I am moving the
Church from the Day of Atonement to Tabernacles. I'm, frankly, just beginning
to laugh.' . . . . As if the devil could stop him fulfilling His covenant
to Abraham. As if the devil could even stop Him from using the Church.
He said, 'The whole idea makes me laugh.' He said, 'I'm starting to use
my body to laugh,' 'cause, He said, 'The Day of Atonement is over and Tabernacles
is coming, and I'm getting ready to laugh and I'm getting ready to roar,
and I tell you this whole world is going to feel the shaking of that laughter
and the power of that roar.'"(28)
Others who say that the whole world will be affected through the
celebration of Tabernacles include Robin McMillan and Steve Thompson:
"There is another realm of spiritual experience typified in scripture by
the Feast of Tabernacles. Until we understand and partake of this feast,
as we have both Passover and Pentecost, we will never fulfill our destiny
and calling. We must discover the meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles and
'celebrate' it along with Passover and Pentecost. . . .
"What God did among Jews in Jerusalem, He is going to do among humanity
and worldwide. Pentecost will come to maturity in the Feast of Tabernacles."(29)
Barbara Marx Hubbard's Great Instant of Co-operation, which "will
come to the peoples of Earth together" and cause walls "to come down everywhere
on Earth" is also echoed in Jay Gary's comment on Jubilee's impact on the
world:
"[Israel's] 50th year was the Jubilee - or the culmination of joy. The
entire year was consecrated to making right whatever had gone wrong. I
am convinced that the year 2000 can truly be a Jubilee year for the entire
human family."(30)
Hubbard believes the culmination of joy has already begun: "Omega!
The planetary birth is a real event in cosmic time. . . . that is really
happening to us now!"(31)
We couldn't agree more; it is happening now, and we're rapidly approaching
the moment when "the Christ" will appear:
"The Instant of Co-operation begins, empathy floods the feelings of the
whole body of Earth, separateness is overcome, and I appear to all of you
at once. I appear to you from within as a voice, and as a vision of yourself
as an evolving being. I appear to you from beyond as the light being that
I now am. . . .
"The promise I made is of a personal future in a transformed body. This
means that you will also have what I have now. I am real. I am tangible.
I am alive. I can speak to each of you through your inner ear if you listen.
I can appear to each of you through your inner eye if you look.
"At the moment of cosmic contact, I will appear to you both through inner
experience and through external communication on your mass media - the
nervous system of the world.
"You will all feel, hear and see my presence at one instant in time, each
in your own way."(32)
Hopefully, before the Church is carried farther down the slippery
Latter Rain path to Jubilee, we will see the truth in Tricia Tillin's words:
"Very little is being said about the doctrine, origins, purpose and goal
of the 'new move.' It is my belief that most churches and leaders do not
know those things. . . .
"Few people involved in the current events know the origins of the phrases
they are using (like Second Pentecost, or Latter Rain); few leaders understand
where the concepts they have been taught in conferences, fraternals and
elders' meetings have been coming from! Many have never even heard of the
Latter Rain, and would deny having anything to do with such doctrine. Yet
still they accept the beliefs with which they have been subtly indoctrinated
over a period of decades! Ignorance is no excuse, for the teachings are
plainly contrary to the Word of God. Leaders, as well as individual Christians,
have a responsibility to test supposed new revelations, not to accept and
promote them just because they are popular."(33)
We would do well to ponder Paul's revelation of the Church as the
Bride of Christ:
(2 Corinthians 11:2) I am jealous for you with a godly jealously. I promised
you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin
to him.
Suffice it to say that a pure virgin is not impregnated with anything,
and more pointedly, by the unblemished Bridegroom before the vows of marriage
have been taken. But some say the Bride is pregnant and in labor and on
her way to the celebration of a birth. The cruel twist is that the child
brought forth in joy and celebration will be the Bride herself, in a birth
Hubbard says is "comparable with the birth of Christ":
"The early Christians had a story to tell: a child was born . . . . Everyone
could understand this story, from kings to peasants. Unexpectedly a new
question burst forth in my mind. I spoke it out loud. Lifting my voice
to the ice-white sky, I demanded to know:
"'What is our story? What in our age is comparable with the birth of Christ?'
"I knew it must be one story for all of humankind, for we are all members
of one planetary body. . . .
"Then I heard the inner words clearly [from the Christ]:
"'Our story is a birth. It is the birth of humankind as one body. . . .
We are one body, born into this universe. GO TELL THE STORY OF OUR BIRTH
. . .'"(34)
And now we, too, know . . . the rest of the story.
FOOTNOTES:
(1) Alice Bailey, The Externalization of the Hierarchy, p. 62.
(2) Holy Trinity Brompton's parish paper, HTB In Focus, October 9, 1994.
(3) Ibid.
(4) Testimony of Byron Mode of Dallas, Toronto pastor's meeting, October
12, 1994.
(5) Morris Cerullo, London School of Ministry, promotional material, 1994.
(6) Pat Robertson interview with Judson Cornwall, 700 Club, Family Channel,
June 9, 1994.
(7) Wallace Hickey, prophecy delivered at Rodney Howard-Browne service,
video aired on TBN, May 1994.
(8) Master Potter Ministries, Passion & Fire Conferences, 1994 promotional
material.
(9) Discernment newsletter, Jewel van der Merwe, Latter Rain and the Rise
of Joel's Army, p. 5 citing End-Time Handmaidens, Angel Letter #2, Sept/Oct
1994.
(10) In The Presence Of God, 1994, pp. 153-157.
(11) Redemptoris Missio, pp. 86, 92.
(12) "The Coming of the Third Millennium: Preparation for the Jubilee of
the Year 2000, Article 23, Trinity Communications 1994, provided courtesy
of The Catholic Resource Network.
(13) 700 Club Report on praying through the 10/40 Window Project and the
AD 2000 Prayer Track, January 1995.
(14) Seattle Fire & Reign Conference, February 14, 1995.
(15) Christianity and Evolution, p. 95.
(16) Ibid., p. 228.
(17) Wild Hope: Crisis Facing The Human Community On The Threshold Of The
21st Century, p. 228.
(18) What Return Can I Make?, p. 152.
(19) The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, p. 122.
(20) The Revelation: Our Crisis Is A Birth, p. 40; emphasis removed.
(21) From a brochure distributed by: Global Travel Network, P.O. Box 4503,
Burlingame, CA 94011-4503.
(22) Ibid.
(23) Gary, The Star of 2000, p. 79, 85.
(24) Pope John Paul II, Jubilee, Article 31.
(25) Pope Johm Paul II, Jubilee, Article 32.
(26) Barbara Marx Hubbard, The Revelation: Our Crisis Is A Birth, The Christ's
comments on Rev. 20:1-3, p. 234-235.
(27) Ibid., p. 235.
(28) Cassette tape of Alan Vincent service, 1994. Location unknown.
(29) Robin McMillan and Steve Thompson, Teaching: "Beyond Pentecost," The
Morning Star Journal, Vol. 4 No. 3, 1994, pp. 43-44, 48; italics deleted.
(30) Jay Gary, founder of B.E.G.I.N., "Get Ready To Celebrate The Year
2000," AD 2000 Global Service Office, 1993, promotion material.
(31) The Revelation: Our Crisis Is A Birth, p. 40; emphasis removed.
(32) The Revelation, The Christ's comments on Rev. 20:1-3, pp. 236-237).
(33) Tricia Tillin, private research paper.
(34) Hubbard, The Revelation, p. 37, 39 (italics, bold print removed).
SIDEBAR: PART 6
THE NEW AGE AGENDA: A PLANETARY PENTECOST
by Ed Tarkowski
We've seen that there is strong international leadership with enough
influence to unite the global Church and turn it toward a worldwide celebration
of Jubilee in the year 2000. The stepping stone to that Jubilee is, at
least in part, Tabernacles.
We've also noted that New Ager Earnest Ramsey, as well as Christian writer
Constance Cumbey, found that the Christian celebration of Tabernacles and
Jubilee had a counterpart in the Age of Aquarius. These, in turn, are no
different than Barbara Marx Hubbard's Planetary Pentecost, which also unites
humanity in a celebration of joy and establishes a reign of peace on the
earth. As in the Latter Rain teaching, Hubbard says the first step on the
way to this Pentecost is a coming out of "Egypt," a Passover, "just as
Moses lead the Jews out of the land of Egypt."(1) After
this, says Hubbard's
Christ, will come the Planetary Pentecost:
"Do this [Planetary Birth Communion] in preparation for the Planetary Birth
which will be induced through this experience given to new disciples of
Christ who choose to work together for the Planetary Pentecost, when the
Spirit of God is poured out upon all people. This is the purpose of your
mission on Earth. All your projects will be reoriented, aligned and empowered
as you accept this purpose and put it first. . . . finally."(2)
As with the Toronto Blessing, a call to unity is going out to all
the nations through Hubbard's New Age agenda:
"The more quickly you can get the word to all nations - to the ears of
the attracted members of the social body - that they are about to be united
by the same call, the better it will be.
"Timing is of the essence. Your task, dearly beloved, is to spread the
word and provide a channel for those who wish to act."(3)
The result of this unity will be a planetary celebration of uncontrollable
joy, comparable to the Latter Rain's Tabernacles raised to a higher power
by Jubilee:
". . . . The planetary celebration will begin for the birth of humankind
in the universe, a blessed Cosmic Child eagerly awaited by the evolved
beings through the universe without end. Hallelujah. Amen."(4)
"An uncontrollable joy [Planetary Smile] will ripple through the thinking
layer of Earth. The co-creative systems, which are lying psychologically
dormant in humanity will be activated. From within, all sensitive persons
will feel the joy of the force, flooding their systems with love and attraction.
. . ."(5)
The end result of both Hubbard's Planetary Pentecost and the Tabernacles/Jubilee
celebrations will be the birth of a corporate body filled with one spirit
of joy and celebration. Here is Hubbard's description of that birth:
"It was a planetary smile - like the smile of a new born baby. . . . Now
for the first time, we were seeing it together. Ecstatic joy rippled through
the planetary body - and through me as one of its billions of members.
. . .
"I saw it was true. We are being born. . . . We are going to be one body,
whether we like ourselves or not." (6)
Hubbard likens this birth to the birth of Christ because just as
Christ was manifested in one human body, the corporate Christ will manifest
in one united global body. Once again, her description is no different
from the Latter Rain's, which states that a united body of Christ is necessary
to incarnate and manifest Christ. Of this corporate birth, Hubbard says,
"All is silent to see if a second miracle can occur comparable to the birth
of Christ.
"That miracle is the gentle Second Coming of Christ through the rapid evolution
of enough humans linked up by the planetary nervous system, so that the
social body will flood with empathy, healings will abound, and the world
will smile with joy. The people will know they are whole, they are good,
they are capable, they are loved, they are needed."(7)
What does all of this mean? It means that mankind is in a transitional
period which will result in the birth of the first global civilization.
In the declaration of the upcoming State of the World Forum, former Czechoslovakian
president Vaclav Havel also describes this transition as a birth:
"There are good reasons for suggesting that the modern age has ended. Many
things indicate that we are going through a transitional period, when it
seems that something is on the way out and something else is painfully
being born. It is as if something were crumbling, decaying and exhausting
itself, while something else, still indistinct, were arising from the rubble."(8)
"The State of the World Forum will focus on the fundamental challenges
and opportunities confronting humanity as we enter the next century and
a new millennium. It is being held in the belief that at this momentous
juncture in history, we are giving birth to the first global civilization."(9)
The end result of this transition is described by Ex-Secretary General
of the United Nations, Robert Muller:
"Let us all coalesce with all our strength, mind, heart and soul around
a New Genesis, a true global, God-abiding, political, moral and spiritual
renaissance to make this planet at long last what it was always meant to
be: the Planet of God."(10)
What is disturbing is that the established goal of New Ager Robert
Muller is no different than Jay Gary's exhortation to the Church to "herald
the coming renaissance":
"For a movement to be successful and to effect some great and important
improvement in human affairs, economist Martin Dent of the University of
Keele feels that [it] must have three characteristics. It must build up
leadership as it progresses. It must be bold and inspire the imagination.
It must have a single great idea that can be easily grasped and simply
shared.
"So it is with the coming Bimillennial Era. If it is to have any hope of
more than a passing success, it must give birth to the "Spirit of 2000."
"On the eve of this decade, I believe Providence has given us a visual
illustration of what this spirit is about through the revolutions in Eastern
Europe. There we saw the triumph of the human spirit in the face of tremendous
odds.
"We must recover the simple idea that the spark of eternity has been placed
within each human being. We must fan this flame, this tiny spark within
every person - and insure that no government, no group, or no authority
is allowed to smother or snuff out this sacred flame.
"Where can you share the "Spirit of 2000"? Each of us have circles of influence
and networks we can touch - our local parish, a rotary club, or a professional
network.
"As early citizens of the 21st Century, we have a sacred duty to carry
this torch across the length and breadth of the planet. Let's blow the
jubilee trumpet and herald this coming renaissance among government, education,
arts, media, business, and religion."(11)
Why are Muller and Gary calling for a spiritual renaissance? New
Age Theosophist Alice Bailey explains it well:
"What the orthodox theologian and the narrow doctrinaire have to offer
no longer satisfies the intelligent seeker or suffices to answer his questions;
he is shifting his allegiances into wider and more spiritual areas. He
is moving out from under doctrinal authority and to direct personal, spiritual
experience and coming under the direct authority which contact with Christ
and His disciples, the masters, gives."(12)
According to Barbara Marx Hubbard's Christ, "the attracted members
of the social body" will "be united by the same call." It seems that some
in the Church are now answering that call.
FOOTNOTES:
(1) The Revelation, The Christ's comments on Rev. 1:1-3, p. 85.
(2) The Revelation, The Christ's comments on The Planetary Birth Communion,
p. 311.
(3) The Revelation, The Christ's comments on Revelation 5:4-5, p. 122.
(4) The Revelation, The Christ's comments on Rev. 20:1-3, p. 237.
(5) The Revelation, The Christ's comments on Rev. 20:1-3, p. 234).
(6) The Revelation, The Planetary Smile, p. 39.
(7) The Revelation, The Christ's comments on 1 Cor. 15:45, p. 165.
(8) Vaclav Havel, Opening statement, Executive Summary, State Of The World
Forum to be convened by Michail Gorbachev, Sept. 27 to Oct. 1, 1995 in
San Francisco.
(9) Executive Summary, State Of The World Forum: Mission.
(10) Robert Muller, Ex-Secretary General of the United Nations; University
of Peace, Costa Rica; New Genesis: Shaping A Global Spirituality, opposite
copyright page.
(11) Jay Gary, Get Ready To Celebrate the Year 2000, B.E.G.I.N., Global
Service Office, 1993.
(12) Alice A. Bailey, The Externalization of the Hierarchy, p. 417.