Truth Matters Newsletter

The cry is out among our Charismatic extremist brethren "the Lord is filling teeth with gold." Additional reports are of a woman from Brazil who has gold dust appear on her and fall from her hair as she ministers. 

The words of our Master echo down through the ages to our very day, "an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign." The Pharisees sought more from Jesus than He had already provided for them. These Pharisees of Jesus` day had made the Word of God of "no effect" due to their man-made traditions (Mark 7:13).

In like manner, today’s Charismatic extremists wear the garb of the Pharisees when they too require more from the Lord than what He has already provided, His Word. The Bible is not sufficient for the extremists, they seek after, and upon finding, flock to the latest sign & wonder in manifestation. 

Like the Pharisees of old, today’s version causes the Word of God to be of "none effect in their lives," due to their many man-made doctrines (being slain in the spirit, holy laughter, spiritual drunkenness, prophetic animal noises, spiritual mapping, restored apostles and prophets, etc.).

Having cast aside the sure anchor of their souls (Hebrews 6:19) they are left wide-open for the latest form of deception to come down the path.

Never forget that error always produces more error. Over a million Charismatic extremists have received an impartation of holy laughter (and its attending manifestations). These people have been deceived into believing this is the "new wine" of the Holy Spirit. It is these same folks who have begun to report the alleged accounts of supernatural dental work and "anointed" vessels covered in gold dust. 

The most recent accounts of supernatural dental work began to be noised abroad from the Toronto Airport Church. The following is their official statement of this paranormal event from their web site (http://www.tacf.org):

The TACF web site also has some rather disturbing pictures of the inside of some person’s mouth (yuck). In another section of their site they do mention encouraging people to obtain verification of the dental sign & wonder.

It seems more than a little irresponsible and premature to state publicly and in press releases that "God" is filling peoples teeth with gold crowns when TACF has absolutely no verification that such an event has even transpired.

To begin with, no dentist merely "fills" teeth with gold. Dental gold is used mainly for crown work, i.e. teeth which are severely decayed. Anyone who has had a gold crown placed in their mouth is very unlikely to forget the experience. Why? Because a mold has to be made first, then the gold crown is formed (usually out-sourced by the dentist). The individual has to make at least 2 trips to the dentist and there is usually a significant cost involved. When all these things are considered it is hard to imagine someone "forgetting" they had the work done. 

What this testimony from TACF reveals is that certain people’s minds were so deludedthat they actually thought "God" had filled their teeth with gold, work which had previously been done by a dentist. Can you imagine the poor soul running off to their dentist claiming a "miracle" from God, only to be told, "I put in this gold crown myself last year," or something to that effect? Is God glorified in this at all? In no way. The deluded individual feels foolish, the dentist possibly thinks less of the Church, certainly TACF, and now possibly considers Christians in general to be loonies (which in this case would be a hard charge to defend against).

On May 7, 1999 ICCDM received the following answer to our request for verification from the dentists of people claiming to have received some "divine dentistry."

Dear Rev. Luchow:

I have been retained by TACF to attempt to do what you describe in your recent e-mail. The difficulty that TACF has encountered is that many persons are either unwilling to risk going to their secular minded dentist, or the dental records are not sufficiently accurate to verify a change (it's surprising how general they often are), or a dentist will deny any miraculous change even if it's right before his eyes, because he/she has no mental paradigm for the miraculous. However, with the Lord's help we continue to pursue verification. Your prayers (and further suggestions, if you have some) are most welcome. Pastor Steve Bolhous

Here is another "report" I received from Richard Riss, historian of the current revival. These quotes are from an e-mail I received from Richard less than two weeks ago:

There seems to be a sovereign anointing where the Lord is giving gold teeth not only in conferences and churches, but also over the phone, in homes, and cars! Reports are coming in to us from all over the country and it's very exciting! This anointing is wonderfully transferable and it's for everyone, wherever you live! Take it! Give it away!" (Bold type added for emphasis) 01-04-99 RRISS@drew.edu

"It is no coincidence that this new outpouring is beginning just days before our scheduled Redigging the Wells of Revival Conference. More than gold fillings, God is pouring out His cleansing and empowerment to give us gold hearts. I believe at this conference, He will release entire wells of truth and blessing to His children. It will be a time of both personal and corporate impartation." (Bold type added for emphasis).

Has anyone considered how frivolous this "manifestation" is? Many people with terminal illnesses come to revival services seeking healing from the Lord, and yet all the "Lord" seems to be doing is filling teeth which have already been filled by a dentist and letting the terminally ill, or others sick in body remain in their desperate situations. This frivolity alone, in the face of the manifold problems Christians have is enough to indicate that the origin is not from our Lord Jesus Christ. 

John Arnott - Why would God fill people’s teeth with gold? Perhaps because He loves them and delights in blessing His children. Perhaps it is a sign and a wonder to expose the skepticism still in so many of us. Perhaps His glory and presence are drawing very near. (Official TACF Statement, March 17, 1999, obtained from their web site www.tacf.org on April 6, 1999) - bold type added for emphasis.

Pastor Arnott gives us three "perhaps" and zero biblical passages. Which "perhaps" is it? One obvious perhaps he has not been willing to consider is that perhaps it is a lying sign and wonder to lead him and his followers into further deception.

Richard Riss - What do I believe this signifies? Perhaps it is just the lavish abundance of a wonderful Father blessing His children. Perhaps it is a gold symbol of the year of Jubilee. Perhaps He is covering our ‘decay’ with His mercy, while reveal His increasing glory and building our faith. . .But one thing is for sure, a new wave and a new level of renewal has hit. . .I do know that gold is representative of the divine nature. I also know that, according to Scripture, we will be partakers of the divine nature. So this phenomenon could be a physical manifestation of the spiritual truth that we are becoming partakers of His divine nature. (Taken from an e-mail received on May 6, 1999 from Richard Riss RRISS@drew.edu) - bold type added for emphasis.

Richard also plays the guessing game in interpreting what is taking place. He hypothesizes that divine dental work builds faith in the recipient. Really? The Israelites saw miracles daily for 40 years and died in UNBELIEF! Signs & wonders do not produce faith. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). He then makes a giant stretch and says it is a physical manifestation of our partaking in the divine nature of God. The one verse he cites, he twists! I have highlighted portions of the following text for emphasis.

How do we become partakers of the divine nature? Not through any mystical intuition, nor by paranormal signs & wonders. We partake of the divine nature through our knowledge of God which is based on His written Word. This knowledge comes through studying God’s Word. The great and precious promises (contained in the Bible) are the means by which we become partakers in the divine nature. What is the "sign" that this is taking place in our lives? Not gold teeth, a but godly life which shows our separation from the corruption which fills the kosmos, or world system.

The following statements come from an e-mail I received from Mr. Riss on May 7, 1999, they are from various people from around our nation.

Bobby Conner - I think we must be careful not to attempt to explain everything God does. Remember He is God! He can do anything He chooses to do. And He does not need our permission to do so. Yet I do feel there are several lessons to be learned. 1) God is getting us ready for strong meat. . . 2) God is putting real wealth in our mouths, we are about to share the glorious gospel of God’s great redemptive love the cross will be a strong message. 

This is what I call the "non-answer" answer. First we are warned not to attempt to explain everything God does; then he goes on to explain what he believes "God" is doing. What is the purpose of the gold teeth? According to Conner’s analogy it is to get the recipients ready for "strong meat." Somehow gold teeth indicates one is ready for super heavy revelations. Secondly, the "real wealth" in the mouth indicates one is ready to preach the gospel. I suppose the Lord has been barely getting His message across for the last two thousand years.

Ken Cosburn - 1) I have personally experienced this, I have a number of very gold colored fillings, where once dark mercury amalgam. 2) I have seen 28 people saved in one meeting, largely as a result of this unusual sign. . . As people see God doing the unexplainable and the miraculous, such as the gold teeth, intellectual reasoning goes out the window, and like a mighty rushing wind, faith comes in.

Again, another personal testimony with no verification, perhaps his dentist is one of the secular ones who would not believe. More importantly, ICCDM is very concerned when we receive reports of people claiming salvation apart from the proclamation of the Gospel message. God does not use signs & wonders to save the lost, He uses the foolishness of preaching (1 Cor. 1:21). 

When something paranormal occurs in a Church service, people had better not suspend intellectual reason and judgment. They should rush to the Bible and delve deeply into God’s Word to verify or rebuke what has taken place in their midst. This is not the attitude of Charismatic extremists, when things occur in their midst they simply embrace them as the latest "sign" of God’s endorsement of their movement.

Fran Astone - The first thought was that the Lord was filling our mouths with His purity. . . In my heart I sense the Lord is paving a pathway for His Word to pass over.

The Lord gives us a new heart at redemption (Eze. 36:26), He commands us to speak sound doctrine (Titus 2:1), but His purity in our mouths?

Mike McClung - This past Friday, after a week of prayer and fasting, we had an extended time of prayer past midnight, and three young girls ages 12 to 16, had intense visions and manifestations of this gold "dust" on their hands, arms, and under their eyes. . . Those who have gold dust appearing on their hands, their hands are holy hands yielding in surrender and service to the Lord and His purposes. Those with gold fillings are those with gold mouths surrendered to the Lord’s voice and to the speaking of His word. Those with gold dust appearing on their faces and eyes, beholding the Lord’s glory and seeing His purposes. As we yield our lives to the Lord in greater yieldedness, the more areas the gold will cover. (NOTE THE ANALOGIES USED)

I am not surprised, I was formerly a Charismatic extremist. I know all too well that a week of intensive praying in other tongues, combined with fasting, then several more hours of praying in tongues will produce an altered state of consciousness. Nor am I amazed that young children, deprived of food, speaking in tongues for a week, then finally kept up past their bed time - with more praying in tongues, will produce intense visions (I’ve been there, done that). This type of behavior opens anyone up to the paranormal realm, suspends the rational mind, and leaves people highly susceptible to possible demonic deception.

Mike continues to explain that the areas in which the gold is seen is prophetic of the purposes of God for that individual. Again, pure speculation and not a shred of Scriptural proof. Those involved with the holy laughter excess, tried to prophetically interpret the animal sounds people made (read Rev. Liichow’s book, The Two Roots of Today’s Revival).

These attempts to explain what is taking place are all speculative in nature. No one has any biblical support, because there is not any to be had! Does this raise any flags of caution? Not at all, these folks have already embraced so much deception and suspended rational thinking that they appear to be open to any and all manifestations in their midst.

February, 1999 at the Calvary Pentecostal Campground a "holy" woman from Brazil was the main attraction. Her claim to fame? Gold dust falls from her hair in large quantity and her skin and hands exude oil with which she anoints the sign-seeker. Who is this holy woman, what is her testimony?

An aside - Charismatic extremists have lost all ability to honesty examine and discern what is taking place in their spiritual lives. John Arnott once said that he has "more faith in God’s ability to bless than in Satan’s ability to deceive." This sounds pious, but it is a deadly mistake to make! If this were the case than why is the Bible filled with warning about the real possibility of being deceived? We need to pray for these brethren because they have drifted so far from the objective truth of God’s Word they are literally open to any form of demonic deception Satan desires to unleash upon them.

Silvania had four different types of cancer and was dying quickly. Green bile was coming from the pores of her body. (They say this happens after a person has been dead about 4 hours). She was gross to look at and smelled even worse. No one wanted to be her friend and no one would come around her or want to see her. She said rejection from people was the worst pain of all. She tried everything to get better. Doctors, spiritual centers, witchdoctors, everything. Finally, a man told her her husband to take her to church and so he did. . .On the third visit to the church, she was healed. . .Later on the oil began to come and several months after the gold began to come in small amounts, but now it comes in great abundance.

Her testimony was too incredible for words, she describes in graphic details of vomiting up pieces of her liver (a medical impossibility), of green fetid smelling bile oozing from every pore, and other horrible problems she underwent for over 12 years! She says she had leukemia and liver cancer (plus 2 other unnamed forms of cancer) - - - all of which were untreated medically for many years. Ask any oncologist and they will tell you people generally do not live 12 years with full-blown liver cancer.

Silvania states that she went to many spiritual centers and witchdoctors. Finally after getting no relief from the occult realm someone suggests she go to Church. 

Silvania finally goes to the unnamed church as a last resort and the Lord totally heals her of all her problems within 5 days! It is unclear from her testimony but it seems that at some point during this time period she also comes to faith in Jesus Christ, but she does not recount her salvation testimony.

Later on, at a prayer vigil, she asks the Lord for a sign (remember Jesus` words in Matt. 16:4?). The sign the "Lord" gives her is that now instead of foul smelling green puss oozing out of her skin, now fragrant oil pours out of her skin! At another prayer meeting she asks for additional "sign," this is when the "Lord" began to cause literal gold dust to both appear on her skin, and pour out of her hair in copious amounts. Her husband relates that they scraped the gold dust off her body and were taking it to their unnamed church in a can so their unnamed Pastor could look at it, by the time they got to church the dust had turned into a little gold bar (at $300.00+ per ounce I guess she does not need to receive any offerings).

She then recounts going to her dentist, totally covered in gold dust (which remained on her for 40 days). The dentist put a temporary "fix" on a few of her molars and told her to go home, she needed some rest. The next morning the "Lord" had fixed her teeth with a solid "bar" of gold in her mouth . . .upon seeing this divine dental work her dentist believed something was indeed happening to Silvania; (so much for excuse #3 from TACF, refer to page 2).

A great yarn to be sure, and a pretty good piece of stage magic too (at least from the video clip I saw), but very weak on facts. All we have is her testimony, nothing more. She was diagnosed by medical doctors, this is how she knew she had 4 forms of cancer. Yet she has not produced any medical records which state she had cancer at all. She also, (at least to date) cannot verify her dental story either. The only thing which qualifies her to be on an international speaking tour is her alleged paranormal gold and oil manifestation. Both manifestations cannot be found in the entire canon of Scripture, nor in the writings of the Early Church Fathers, not even in the Apocrypha! Yet Charismatic extremists are hanging on her every word and willingly being deceived by what we now call "gold fever." In her services she has the now commonplace manifestations of spiritual drunkenness, being slain in the spirit, and holy laughter when Silvania lays hands on the sign-seeking devotees.

There is simply no way to verify Mrs. Machado’s story. She comes from Brazil, was formerly involved in the occult, and gives no specifics concerning her conversion to Christ. We do not know what the name of her church is, or that of her Pastor, thus we have no way of contacting anyone in her native land to obtain independent background information about her.

Ruth Heflin is the Pastor of the church where Silvania spoke; here Ruth is quoted in the article as saying the following (bold type added for emphasis):

And, that we have only begun to see the manifestations; we all need to be open, because He has just begun to show these things. She also had a vision of Benny Hinn ministering on TV and gold appearing on His face! Obtained on May 6, 1999 from the web site www.revivalglory.org/camptest.htm 

Silvania sounds sincere, but the manifestations which accompany her revival meetings fall outside the pale of Holy Writ. It would seem that she is either an outright fraud, using stage magic to make "gold" dust seem to appear (Marjoe Gortner did something similar in his meetings), or is being used by demonic forces in order to deceive and mislead unwary saints. Time will tell.

A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail from a friend who directed me to the specific location on the IRS site with the updated information. The following is taken directly from the IRS web site, bold type added for emphasis:

Section 6104—- Publicity of Information Required From Certain Exempt Organizations and Certain Trusts 26 CFR 301.6104(d)-3: Public inspection and distribution of applications for tax exemption and annual information returns of tax-exempt organizations (other than private foundations).

Section 10702 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (OBRA ‘87) added subsection (e) to section 6104. Section 6104 (e) requires each tax-exempt organization, including one that is a private foundation, to allow public inspection of the organization’s application for recognition of tax exempt. Section 6104(e) also requires each tax-exempt organization, other than one that is a private foundation, to allow public inspection at the organization’s principal office (and certain regional or district offices) of its three most recent annual information returns. . . Under section 6104(e), each annual information return must be made available for a 3-year period beginning on the date the return is required to be filed or is actually filed. . .Section 6104(e) also requires each tax-exempt organization, other than one that is a private foundation, to comply with requests, made either in person or in writing, for copies of the organization’s three most recent annual information returns. The organization must fulfill these requests without charge, other than a reasonable fee for reproduction and postage. . . If the request for copies is made in writing, the organization must provide the copies within 30 days.

This means the majority of the Televangelists will have to reveal how much money they took in, who their corporate officers are, and other information. This ruling applies to virtually all non-profit corporations and goes into effect June 8th, 1999. It will not impact church organizations, but most ministries were not formed as "churches." People such as Peter Popoff, Marilyn Hickey, Jerry Savelle, TBN, Jesse Duplantis, and others, will have to reveal their "take" over the last three years.

Why is this important? First, some Televangelists will no longer be able to cry "poor" as easily when people can know what their actual financial standing is. It is hard to tell people you "need" a million dollars, when you have 5 or 10 million in the bank. Secondly, it forces a level of accountability which has not been in force before. ICCDM is already preparing to contact several ministries. We are gathering their Corporate addresses, and we will be sending certified letters, with return receipts to them requesting copies of the last three years of their tax reporting. Upon our receipt of the return receipt their 30 day clock begins ticking. This information will become part of the Public Record, and, as such we plan to place it in upcoming Truth Matters issues as well as on our web site. STAY TUNED!!

In November 1977, Maitreya said: "Those who search for signs will find." In May 1988, an associate of Maitreya stated: "Maitreya is going to flood the world with such happenings that the mind can never comprehend it. . . Because Maitreya hopes, by means of these ‘miracles’, to strengthen the climate of hope and expectancy in to which he can emerge as the Teacher for all humanity. Obtained on May 4, 1999 from http://www.shareintl.org/background

1) Crosses of light - appear in people’s windows in California, New Zealand, Slovenia, Japan, Germany, and other places.

2) Healing wells - Maitreya often energizes water sources in the vicinity of spots he is about to appear. So far, healing waters have been discovered in Mexico, Germany, France, China, and India. (We have a Charismatic Bishop in Detroit named Wayne T. Jackson. He is Pastor of Great Faith Church, he regularly lays hands on jugs of water which he claims have healing powers).

3) Virgin Mary appears on the glass of a black glass building in Clearwater Florida (major headquarters of the Church of Scientology), over 450,000 people come to see it and pray to it. Sitings of "Mary" are now as common as fleas on a dog.

4) Light emanates from Japanese Bodhisattva image.

5) Hindu statues drink milk in many locations. Over 10,000 people attest that they have seen various Hindu gods (demons) drink milk before their eyes. "We believe this miracle and those happening at other Hindu temples, may be a sign that a great Soul has descended, like Lord Krishna or Jesus Christ."

6) Muslim miracles - the name of "Allah" has been found inside of fruit, on dry beans, on a watermelon.

7) Weeping Madonna in Toronto - since early 1996 an icon of the Virgin Mary has been weeping in a small Greek Orthodox Church. (Toronto is the launching point for the global deception of holy laughter and other spurious paranormal experiences).

8) Lebanese statue of Mary sweats oil - in a cemetery in Tyre hundreds have come to pray to a statue which exudes oil.

One of the more bizarre signs & wonders is the pitiful case of Audrey Santos - a comatose American girl who draws thousands of pilgrims who believe she performs miracles. Oil runs in great profusion from the statues of the Catholic saints in her room, and visitors say they can smell roses when they enter her room. She is also supposed to be a stigmatic, showing the bloody wounds of Jesus Christ on her body.

Another miracle worker, Sri Sathya Sai Baba is a Hindu guru worshipped as an incarnation of God by millions of people. For many years he has been "materializing" gold, jewels, and other objects. Here is a quote:

I went to India this year to see Sai Baba with a group of followers. On 20th January I saw him materialize a gold and diamond watch for a young devotee. He then took another devotee's steel ring from his finger and blew on it. We saw it change into a diamond ring. Baba recently also materialized a small Bible containing facts about Jesus. Tears of joy flooded my eyes to see such wonders. The statue of Baba that I saw drinking milk was five feet high and made of solid marble. There was no hollow for the mouth. As it drank the milk I could hear it slurp. It drank half a pot every day.

The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture; unto which nothing at any time is to be added whether by new revelation of the Spirit or traditions of men. Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology vol. 1. p. 152

According to the biblical pattern if God touched your teeth He would totally restore them, not change silver into gold! The tooth is still as decayed as ever, only the color of the filling has (allegedly) been changed. If people were reporting that suddenly in the midst of a service all of their former cavities disappeared and new tooth enamel has replaced former silver or gold . . . then maybe the Lord is at work. Or someone with a bridge or dentures suddenly finds themselves with a new set of teeth, that then fits the biblical pattern. These things however are not taking place.

The best the extremists have come up with is to look up the references to "gold" in the Bible and then try to make the verses fit their experience by use of allegory.

They have it backwards, we do not make the Word fit our experience, we see if our experience fits the Word in its context. When our experience(s) do not fit the context of Scripture, then we must question them, and not attribute them to God.

2 Thes. 2:9-12
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (KJV)

Many within Charismatic extremism are in danger of loving their subjective experiences more than God’s Word. When we challenge them to biblically prove their experiences with the Bible we are routinely told "you are putting God in a box." Recently a more distressing comment is being made, such as, "everything God did is not contained in the Bible, so how can you say what is taking place is unbiblical?" then they cite John 21:25 to prove their point.

As to putting God in a "box," our answer is a simple one. God has sovereignly chosen to reveal Himself to us in the Bible as contained in 66 books. The Bible is totally sufficient in all matters of faith and practice. He has given us the Bible as the means by which we are to judge all matters pertaining to our spiritual life. Thus to take our stand on His Word is in no way putting Him in a "box," on the contrary it brings glory to His name and safety to His Church to do so.

Regarding the John 21:25 argument, when they attempt to use this line of defense I tell them that they are impugning the wisdom of God. Every cult has added additional revelation and information that the Bible does not mention, these people are in danger of slipping further into cultism. At best theirs is an argument from silence, at worst it is another sign-post of a dangerous lack of fidelity to God’s Word. 
 
 

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