"He, (Cain) has a fear mantle upon him, the mantle of lamb's wool innocence - and it's a beautiful glowing mantle like platinum." (0. Steinkamp, unpublished paper, 1997, p.27).
Well! The platinum has lost it's glow. The Cain prophetic mantle is no longer innocent but is now completely discredited. There is little doubt that Cain has clairvoyant talents. With rare exceptions he calls out people from the audience and reveals facts and even hidden sins that he could not have known beforehand.
A friend of ours from Australia was in a public meeting in which Cain was speaking. This man had just lost his wife and Cain (with no knowledge of this man) pointed to him and told him so and proceeded to name his four sons.
Art Katz reported:
"That man is a prophet of God"... "He lold me secrets of my heart which no man could possibly know!" (David Pyches, Some Say It Thundered, (Oliver-Nelson: Nashville, Th.), 1991, p.81.
A publisher of a famous Charismatic magazine once harbored some doubts regarding Cain. Cain later met him and proved to him that he was indeed a prophet of God. Cain then referred to a boat owned by the publisher and preceded to tell him the numbers of his boat license after which the publisher called him truly a prophet of God.
While other prophetic wannebes have attempted to duplicate these clairvoyant fetes, most have admitted that only William Branham of the 50's and Paul Cain possess the "gift" in such remarkable terms.
In a special letter from Rick Joyner's website the following information was recently released:
"In February 2004, we were made aware that Paul had become an alcoholic. In April 2004, we confronted Paul with evidence that he had recently been involved in homosexual activity. Paul admitted to these sinful practices and was placed under discipline, agreeing to a process of restoration, which the three of us would oversee. However, Paul has resisted this process and has continued in his sin... With our deepest regrets and sincerity, Rick Joyner, Jack Deere, Mike Bickle." http://www.morrnnsstrarministries.ore/oages/ special~bulleu.ns/0ct_19.html
In order to appreciate the significance of Cain's dramatic fall, we need to review the identity of this now disgraced false prophet. Paul Cain was born in 1929 at Garland, Texas about twenty miles from downtown 'Dallas. According to a tradition promoted by Cain, his mother Anna was terminally ill with breast cancer, tuberculosis, and heart disease. Nearing death, the Angel of the Lord purportedly appeared to her and told her that she would live and bear a male child whom she must name Paul for he will preach the gospel as did the apostle Paul of scripture.
David Pyches, who has authored a book extolling the Kansas City prophets, recounts the early clairvoyant talent of Paul Cain;
"Paul's mother, grandmother, and great grandmother had all been born with the gift of seeing. His great-grandmother would sometimes see things in broad daylight and ask her friend or family if they could see them too. If they said they could not, she would occasionally wave her hand upon them and they would immediately see the identical vision... Paul now found he was "seeing" also and would know things that were going to happen to classmates at school or were happening to absent friends. He knew simple things like who would end up with a bloody nose or who would win a race... By the age of nine "Little Brother" (as he was being affectionately referred to by adults, perhaps because it was the form of address used by the angel who spoke to him from time to time) began public preaching in a limited way... By the time Paul was about eighteen... he began traveling across America ministering as an evangelist and healer. Those were the early days of the healing movement which swept through the Pentecostal churches during the forties and fifties under the leadership of evangelists like William Branham, Oral Roberts, T.L Osborn, A.A. Allen, Jack Coe and many others well known in those days...
There was a special bond between William Branham and Little Brother in the early days of Paul's ministry. ..Sometimes when Branham could not meet a commitment, he would send Paul in his place. The extent of their spiritual "light" was phenomenal. When they called each other by phone one would often say to the other in fun, "You're all right today. How am I?" and each would know the others state of health precisely On one occasion Mike Bickle had been complaining to his wife that he had "a bit of a sniffle" or a slight cold - something he rarely had - the phone rang, Bickle picked up the receiver and heard Paul on the line. He had heard about Paul's gift so he said by way of a joke, "Hi, Paul! You're all right today! How am I?" Immediately Paul answered him, "Why Mike, you've got a bit of a sniffle and you are all wet. Your hair is standing up on the left side of your head." (Bickle had just gotten out the shower). (Pyches, pgs. 24,26,29,30.
There is apparently one other incident in Paul Cain's life that is of interest that could be related to his homosexuality. Apparently Cain was driving back from San Francisco from a meeting with a girl he was planning to marry. Suddenly the Lord appeared (in his front seat) and announced that He was jealous of this girl and further revealed that if Paul wanted a special and intimate relationship with the Lord, he must remain celibate.
Pyches gives further details of this episode that he must have learned from Cain:
"Suddenly Paul became conscious of lights flashing behind him... he braked as the highway patrolman flagging him down was stopping in front of him... "Where is he?" demanded the cop in a shaky voice. "Where is who?" "Where is the man that was sitting in the front seat talking with you?" "Oh!" said Paul in his Southern drawl. "That was the Lord."... Then do you realize that you and the Lord have just gone through three red lights together?" (Pyches, pg.40)
After the death of Branham on December 18, 1965 and the demise of the Latter Rain movement, Cain apparently went into self-imposed exile for years. In recent years he reappeared, linking himself to the Kansas City prophets with Mike Bickle and Bob Jones as the leading resident prophets. Among these self-designated prophets, Cain was given a special place of recognition because of his nearly always-accurate clairvoyant ability to see things that no one else could. In a sense, he was like the second coming of Branham. All the other prophetic wannabes aspired to become like Cain and were always having to justify the fact that their prophecies never really ever attained anything near to Cain's apparent accuracy. To be sure, Cain has had an occasional slip. He once prophesied that Bill Clinton would lead America in a worldwide revival, which, incidentally, hasn't happened to this date. Paul Cain cryptically has taught the Latter Rain teaching of the "Manifest Sons of God." This teaching simply affirms that in the last days a "new breed" of believers would attain to immortality and conquer the last enemy of death. Latter-Rain prophets look forward to the appearance of an end-time glorification of a remnant church which will become perfected and thus qualify for immortality here upon the earth prior to Christ's return. In fact, they believe, prior to the Lord's physical return, Jesus comes again spiritually and invisibly to a corporate body of believers. God's glory re-inhabits His temple, referring to the endtime new breed of believers. The prophetic movement teachers identify this great endtime company as the "Manchild" of Revelation 12, which will rule and reign the nations with a rod of iron. This indestructible and immortal company become impregnated with the presence of the "Christ" and they will put all things under their feet.
The beginnings of the prophetic movement goes back many decades. In the 40's there was a flurry of activity. Between 1947 and 1957, the so-called "Healing Revival" led by Oral Roberts, T.L. Osborn, A.A. Allen, Jack Coe, and Orval Jaggers crisscrossed America often with large tent campaigns. Their nearly unbelievable stories were published in the pages of Gordon Lindsay's Voice of Healing magazine. William Branham was the central figire in this era. But he also became a catalyst for another contemporary Pentecostal Movement called the Latter-Rain. It appeared in Canada and was given the blessing of Branham who actually laid hands on the Canadian leaders of the Latter-Rain. The Latter-Rain had developed an entirely new end-time teaching of "salvation history."
One of the leading teachings was the restoration to the church of the office ministries of apostles and prophets, a reappearance of New Testament apostles and Old Testament prophets. These restored ministries were deemed to be greater than those of the "Early Rain" of the New Testament period. Branham, however, never seemed to totally understand the Latter Rain theology. Nevertheless, he was considered by Latter Rain leaders to be their prophet par excellence. As already noted, Cain was mentored by and ministered with Branham. Branham's untimely death by a car accident seemed to mark the demise of the Latter-Rain. The abuses of the Latter-Rain ministries caused Cain to retreat to his home state of Texas for many years of exile. Cain, however, claims he was given a promise by the Lord that if he would keep himself pure from the corruption of self-promotion and financial gain that the Lord would use him to help anoint a group of prophets yet to be revealed.
Cain came out of retirement and met the leadership of the Kansas City prophets led by Mike Bickle. Bickle, Jones and others in Kansas City, received him as their "spiritual father" and he was recognized as the chief among all the prophets. In January of 1990, a Kansas City pastor named Ernie Gruen published a report that was distributed nationwide exposing some of the teachings and practices at Bickle's church. At this point the Vineyard movement, led by the late John Wimber, stepped in and took Bickle's church and the prophets into the Vinyard movement. Not long after this the Toronto Vineyard church introduced the world to the "Toronto Blessing" with all it's strange phenomena. Bob Jones, a controversial Kansas City prophet, Jim Goll and John Paul Jackson, now Vineyard prophets, endorsed the Toronto phenomenon. Later there was a cross-fertilization (their term) with similar movements linking others with this orbit, including C. Peter Wagner and his apostles and prophets of the New Apostolic Reformation, who include Cindy Jacobs, Dutch Sheets, Chuck Pierce, Ted Haggard, and others.
In more recent times Paul Cain has moved around and has linked himself with various ministries. For a period he was ministering with R.T. Kendall in England and also with Rick Joyner.
However, this prophet of prophets has fallen and fallen hard. His supernatural fetes of clairvoyance blinded so many from seeing that he was never "a great prophet of God" but rather a convincing counterfeit.
What conclusions can we gain from all of this? If his followers had demanded that Cain be accountable for his unbiblical teachings, he could have been discounted years ago. But even the three who sadly had to report his downfall are themselves (although not as convincingly) engaged in extra-biblical and bizarre and false prophesies.
Jack Deere, who formally taught at Dallas Theological Seminary, joined the wider prophetic movement about the time Cain reappeared. Since the late 80's he has worked with the Late John Wimber in the Vineyard movement, endorsing the Toronto Blessing Movement. Jewel van der Merve quotes Deere as saying:
"You see why we're excited about someone like Paul Cain or Bob Jones coming on the scene? Or others that we 'ye met... you know those two powerful witnesses in Revelation 11:3? They are prophets. He said they will prophesy for 1,260 days. He's going to end the last day's just before His Son returns with a prophetic movement that will sweep the entire face of the earth and will eclipse anything we have ever seen before..." (Deere, It Sounds Like the Mother of All Battles, Vineyard Ministries International, 1990 quoted by Jewel van der Merve in her Discernment newsletter, 1991).
Joyner appears to claim the Branham/Cain mantle of knowing and seeing into peoples hearts. In Joyner's mystic trip up the mountain of the Lord (an actual purported trip to heaven) described in his book The Final Quest, the Lord told Joyner that he could gain complete Knowledge:
"This knowledge [about some peoples illnesses] comes when you touch My mind to just a small degree. I know all things. If you were to fully have my mind you would be able to know everything about everyone that you encounter, just as you have begun to experience... when you know My heart then the eyes of your heart will be opened. Then you will see as I see, and you will do what I do." (quoted by Bob Dewaay, Critical Issues Commentary, Issue #71, p.4, Twin City Fellowship, from Rick Joyner, The Final Quest, (Morningstar; Charlotte, 1996, p. 130).
This alone ought to discredit Joyner and others like him. It appears, however, the only thing that can finally discredit the present day assortment of false wannabe prophets is homosexuality. Simply uttering false and unbiblical revelations doesn't discredit prophets today. Oh! The personal pain and confusion that could be spared the church. But it is certain segments of the church that happily empower and endorse all these false oracles supposedly given in the name of the Lord.
Who within the body of Christ will be willing to speak up and disqualify, not only Cain but all of the fellow travelers and promoters of this prophetic movement found disbursed widely in pan-Pentecostal and pan-Evangelical circles? Let us return again to the safe harbor of clear Biblical teaching!!
Stormy Seas in the Prophetic Movement:
John L. Moore, in a posting on the Internet called: The Perfect Storm, speaks for many in the prophetic movement, reacting to Paul Cain's fall:
"It's a dark and stormy night. The prophetic world especially, is undergoing a great shaking. In the past few weeks we've learned that Paul Cain has been a slave to certain grievous sins, and Andrew Strom has issued two declarations against major prophetic ministries in the United States... it is as if we are all on a boat being tossed by fierce winds and high waves. Some of us are clinging to the ship's railing and praying we are not tossed overboard. A few, I suspect are like Jonah and sleeping in the hold." (John Moore, A Perfect Storm, htto://www.consuminfire.com/aperfectstorm. htm)
Andrew Strom is a revivalist leader from New Zealand who has been loosely identified with the Prophetic Movement. He has previously voiced concern over some of the bizarre manifestations associated with the Toronto Blessing and the Brownsville River of revival. Now having attended a major prophetic conference in Kansas City called the Whitedove Conference (Main speakers Bob Jones, Paul Keith Davis, Bobby Conner, John Paul Jackson and others) he has written a report which he has called "I'm Leaving the Prophetic Movement."
I am going to include excerpts of Strom's paper, for it will introduce many of you who have not had direct contact with the Prophetic Movement, to get a feel for its bizarre nature.
Strom states:
"It is with great sadness that I make the following report. I said last week that the 'Whitedove' conference in Kansas Citv this past weekend would be a pivotal one. It certainly was pivotal for me personally. I wish I could say that there was deep repentance - that the preaching was incredibly anointed and the crowd was on their faces crying before God. I wish I could say that, but I can't In fact, it seemed to me that the opposite was true. The saddest thing of all is that many people probably came away from this conference saying how "wonderful" and "uplifting" it was... But I have to tell you, I was grieved to the core by it. Many parts of it I would even describe as spiritually "sick"
Some people believe that the fall of Paul Cain into serious sin is some kind of aberration - just one individual's problem. But I am convinced that the fall of Paul Cain (who was recognized worldwide as the father' of this movement) is a symptom of a much wider disease. The whole movement is sick... As I have stated in previous articles, the 'Prophetic' as we know it is really a 'fallen" movement - since the early 1900's. But I always held out hope that it would somehow turn around and get back on track again. In fact, I believed that this conference was a heaven-sent opportunity for that to happen. However, after what I saw this weekend I no longer believe this is possible. The deception is now too deep... This was a gathering of KEY prophets at a moment in time when the father of the movement had just fallen... However, what actually eventuated at this event seemed to me to be more akin to a circus than a solemn assembly. The music, the concert-style lighting, the stage dancers, the groaning tables stacked high with books and CD's for sale, the ear-tickling, the hype, the $40.00 door fee plus extra offerings taken each session - and that's just for starters. What really bothered me about the weekend was the total lack of any truly 'prophetic' preaching
As always there were plenty of anecdotes and tales of angelic visitations, etc... But as far as a message that truly pierces and challenges and convicts- well don 't go looking for that in THIS prophetic movement! In fact, there were warnings AGAINST any message that might come across as even slightly "condemning", and there was even one of those cute talks on the need for "loving oneself", etc. Today's prophets seem to talk a lot ABOUT the 'sword of the Lord' but never actually bring it to bear. They bring no piercing word. And thus the entire movement is open to great deception. And instead of REPENTANCE, people are getting all kinds of counterfeit spiritual experiences. There seems to be almost no discernment at all. The ON-STAGE DANCING throughout the conference was a good example. Now, I myself am a rock musician, but from the beginning these dance items had a rather 'wild' aspect to them that truly made me uncomfortable in my spirit. There was even one the came across like a sensual 'Harem' dance... Even the worship had a very "tribal " feel to it at times. And by Day Three they were doing dance items with just loud voodoo-style drums only and leaping around in a frenzied circle making weird cries to the super-amplified beat. The feeling in the room was so oppressive and "pagan" during this that I could hardly even bear to stay in there. Then came one of the most shocking statements of the whole conference from one of the main prophets. He got up and said that people may feel uncomfortable with such obviously "pagan" type dancing but that it was originally God's type dancing and we were just now 'stealing back' what the pagans had stolen from God! I have to admit, this was the last straw for me. What could be more blatant? What kind of 'spirits' do they think are being transmitted to people who open themselves up to that music? There is no discernment in this movement at all...
Remember, most of the major "movers and shakers" of the Prophetic movement were at this conference, going along with this stuff. I repeat what I said earlier: This movement demonstrates absolutely NO DISCERNEMENT. I urge every one to GET OUT NOW before even worse is brought in. I believe this movement is RIGHT NOW being given over to deception by God - and it is going to get much worse. Even the 'spiritual' moments in this conference often had strong touches "Charis-mania" excess about them. And this was not the 'harmless, silly' kind of excess either. It was at a level where I believe demonic spirits of deception were clearly at work. By the last session the audience was so hyped that they threw away all inhibition and leapt into the 'pagan' dancing themselves with wild abandon...". (http://homepages. ihug.co.ns-revival/index2.html)
In a follow up web posting called by Strom "Naming Names" be goes on to say:
"A number of people asked me about Rick Joyner and Morningstar Ministries. Where do they fit into all this? Well, seemingly Rick has always managed to keep himself at a slight distance from the worst excesses and controversies of this movement. (Except for when he joined the Knights of Malta an ancient Catholic Order. By the way, that is probably what led to the fad of using the sword to 'knight' people that swept through this movement a few years ago)... The fact is, Mr. Joyner is very close friends with almost all of the main leaders at this recent conference. He regularly ministers alongside them - and knows them very well. As a father in the movement, if he had brought correction it would have been heeded but he has clearly failed to do so. Thus he has to be held accountable for the state of things as much as anyone else." (Strom, see above website)
Some disturbing conclusions;
-Even the fall of the revered "terror of the Lord" father of this movement seems to have only caused a ripple rather than a storm within the movement.
- It appears only something as grievous as unrepentant homosexuality can cause the movement to even attempt to discipline its participants. The "pagan" dancing etc is dismissed as simply reclaiming God's original music. Don't he surprised if Cain is somehow "rehabilitated" as was Bob Jones after his sexual improprieties during prophetic ministry some years ago. Cain's clairvoyance talents are too appealing to ignore.
The biblical gift of prophecy has been high jacked by the Prophetic Movement and made to be something that the New Testament never envisioned. Indeed, there continues to be a certain amount of discussion as to the actual nature of the New Testament gift of prophecy. Some see it as something that was only a temporary gift during the apostolic period. Others see this and the other gifts of the Spirit as gifts that the Spirit still gives to the church today. But for those of us who assert that the gift of prophecy is a gift for the contemporary church, we distinguish this gift from the abuses seen in the prophetic movement.
In the context of 1 Corinthians 14, the gift of prophecy is never seen as adding new truth (called "present truth" by prophetic movement teachers). The gift of prophecy, rather, is a congregational, impromptu, inspired word given to a congregation to effect, "edification, and exhortation and comfort" (1 Cor. 14:3) and 'the' word given to the congregation must be "judged". This "word" must pass the test of biblical and apostolic faithfulness.
The contemporary church must heed the instruction and commendation of the Risen Christ to the Ephesian church when the Savior said: "You have tested those who say they are apostles (prophets) and are not, and have found them liars." (Revelation 2:2)
Gini and I wish to take this opportunity to thank you for your support this past year. You truly do bless us.
May God bless you and yours at this special time of Christmas celebration and may the Lord provide all that you need in the corning year.