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"Take
Heed" Ministries
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Cecil Andrews, PO BOX 13, Ballynahinch, BT24 8AL, Northern Ireland. Telephone/Fax 028 9756 5511. E-MAIL - takeheed@aol.com WEBSITE - http://www.takeheed.net |
‘MANDATE
2008’ with COLIN DYE:
Another cause for concern
Not for the first time the invited
and announced speaker for the annual MANDATE men’s conference in
The Mandate 2008... |
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The Call: Rediscovering the
Life Less Ordinary
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Date: 15th November
2008 |
Price: £30 per person |
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Location: The Odyssey Arena, Belfast (click
on link for map) |
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10:00am morning Session 1 |
11.15am coffee break |
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11.45am morning Session 2 |
1.00pm lunch break |
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2pm seminars |
3.30pm seminars repeated |
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4.45pm worship session |
5.15pm tea break |
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7.00pm evening session |
8.45pm finish |
the speaker:
Colin Dye
In
this article I want to identify 4 particular ‘connections’ involving Colin Dye
that should give discerning Christians real ‘cause for concern’ and then I will conclude with
some comments on the current spiritual ethos and activities of Colin Dye and of
the church he pastors in London, Kensington Temple London City Church.
Colin Dye and Morris Cerullo
For the past 15+ years a regular visitor to London has been Morris
Cerullo who heads up the Morris
Cerullo World Evangelism organisation based in San Diego California where according to one
report found on
http://www.cephaslibrary.com/evangelists/evangelist_morris_cerullo_fraud.html
‘Morris Cerullo is an ordained Assembly of God
Minister and Healing Evangelist. His personal ministry mansion and two-storey
home is over 12,000 sq ft. It is behind two secured gates in the richest
neighbourhood in America and has been estimated at over $12 million. Mr Cerullo
and his wife are the only two that live there, and report that they are on the
foreign field 70% of the time... what a waste of God's money!’
According to promotional materials
that I have for Morris Cerullo’s 1993, 1994, and 1995 ‘Missions to London’
[MTL], Colin Dye was fully involved in the planning of these events and as
you will see participated on occasions as a speaker. I want to show first the
front page of a Morris Cerullo 1993 MTL newsletter announcing the event
to be held in London at the Earl’s Court 1 Arena from 15-22 August 1993.
In the right-hand column of the text of this newsletter reference is made to the holding of an “All European School of Ministry” and this next graphic will show details of some of the speakers lined up for this “School”.
I have highlighted in yellow Benny Hinn, R W Schamback and Marilyn
Hickey, just 3 of the names that would give grave cause for concern to
believers who are familiar with the heretical ‘health and wealth gospel’ sent
forth across the world by so-called ‘Christian’ TV broadcasters such as TBN [Trinity Broadcasting Network].
So, where does Colin Dye come into all of this? The next graphic gives details of a ‘Board’ and ‘Committee’ involved in the planning of this 1993 MTL and you will see the name of Colin Dye listed as a member of the MTL ’93 Board
of Reference. His name is listed 2nd
in the left-hand column.
Moving on to the 1994 MTL I want to show a graphic of the MTL
’94 Board of Reference and
again you will see that Colin Dye is listed as a member [2nd name on the list].
As regards the 1994 “School of
Ministry” the following graphic shows that Colin Dye is now listed
as a speaker [2nd photo in from the left at the top] – once
more the ‘health and wealth gospel’ teacher, Marilyn Hickey [8th
photo] appears as does another ‘health and wealth gospel’
teacher from Sweden, Ulf Ekman [4th photo] -sadly
for us in Northern Ireland both Marilyn Hickey and Ulf Ekman have spoken here
in times past, as has also of course more recently, Benny Hinn [photo-
right-hand column].
Moving on to the 1995 MTL held
from 7-13 August at the Earl’s Court 1 Arena we find that the “School” has
now been virtually blasphemously renamed as the “School of the Holy Spirit” as
this graphic will show.
This next graphic will show some
of the speakers lined up for the “School of the Holy Spirit” and you
will see Colin Dye listed [3rd photo in from the right] –
once more Marilyn Hickey is there [3rd photo from left].
Should such evident wholehearted support of Morris
Cerullo by Colin
Dye be a ‘cause
for concern’? I certainly believe
it should be for to give Morris Cerullo any kind of support indicates to me a total lack of Holy
Spirit, God-given “discernment”.
In 1st Corinthians 12:10 the Apostle Paul wrote of the “discerning
of spirits” and Pastor John
MacArthur in his bible notes writes – ‘Christians with the gift of discernment
have the God-given ability to identify deceptive and erroneous doctrine…it is
still essential to have people in the church who are discerning. They are the
guardians, the watchmen who protect the church from demonic lies, false
doctrines, perverted cults and fleshly elements’.
Professing Christians in positions of leadership should especially be
exercising such “discernment” when it comes to the likes of Morris
Cerullo. In a previous article
I outlined my concerns about Mr Cerullo’s ‘ministry’ and included video
evidence of his false pronouncement of the healing of a young girl from cancer
– a young girl who subsequently died just a few weeks later. Herewith are
excerpts of what I wrote together with a link to the video clip – [the full
article can be viewed on http://www.takeheed.net/StrangebedfellowswithEA.htm]
‘The lead article on the front page of the British Church Newspaper
[Issue 88: May 12 2006] was entitled “Morris Cerullo, Benny Hinn and
R T Kendall in ‘Mission to London’”. This refers to the latest ‘Mission’
to be staged in London by the ‘Morris Cerullo World Evangelism’ organisation…Part
of the article in the British Church Newspaper also stated –‘Some
ten years after Morris Cerullo’s organisation disaffiliated from the
Evangelical Alliance [EA], it [EA] has allowed Cerullo’s forthcoming ‘Mission
to London’ a FULL-PAGE advert in its magazine, IDEA’.
Prior to the Cerullo organisation ‘disaffiliating’ itself from EA it had been the subject of a 3-year investigation by EA who had as a consequence in 1995 issued a statement saying that they ‘had concerns’ about the organisation but they stopped short of ‘excommunicating’ it – however, not long after, the Morris Cerullo organisation voluntarily resigned from EA.
Just as an example of the type of information that EA might have considered when ‘weighing up’ the Morris Cerullo organisation and coming to their conclusion that they ‘had concerns’ about it let me quote extracts from a short article that appeared in the Evangelical Times of December 1992 –
Cerullo
‘bundled out’ of India
A front-page feature
article in The Times of India [India’s largest selling newspaper] on 17
October 1992 reported that “A so-called miracle healer, Morris Cerullo, who
prefers to call himself a man of God, was declared ‘persona non gratia’ and
bundled out of the country by Calcutta police this morning after mass healing
services on Park Circus Maidan yesterday evening turned into a fiasco when
members of the crowd stormed the dais challenging the efficacy of his healing
power”. The article went on to declare that “For indulging in undesirable
activities Morris Cerullo was put on a plane bound for the US this morning”. It
was reported that the crowd became restive as Mr Cerullo could not prove his
healing power…The Indian crowd had the good sense to test the claims of
Cerullo. It is a pity that British crowds seem more naïve.
Perhaps the ‘lament’ in that article that British crowds were less ready to ‘test the claims of Cerullo’ was based on events earlier that year when Cerullo had held a ‘Mission to London’. It did attract media attention and several BBC programmes [‘Heart of the matter’] showed Joan Bakewell ‘quizzing’ Mr Cerullo about his claims for ‘healing’. Dr Peter May, a member of the C of E Synod also challenged Mr Cerullo to cite his ‘best’ 3 cases of healing during the ‘Mission’ and these were analysed in the second of the TV programmes.
Herewith are extracts from ‘HealthWatch Newsletter no 15: June 1994’ that can be accessed on –
http://www.healthwatch-uk.org/newsletterarchive/nlett15.html#miracles
Miracles at Earls Court
This summer, American TV healer Morris
Cerullo returns to London, with his claims of miracles at his meetings. Two
years ago, posters showing a broken blind cane, an overturned wheel-chair and a
discarded hearing-aid were displayed on bill-boards across the capital, to the
anger and dismay of many disabled people. Challenged in a live television
interview to produce his three best cases from the week for public scrutiny,
Cerullo found himself under an intense spotlight Joan Bakewell's "Heart of
the Matter" team presented the cases in a powerful television documentary,
leaving Cerullo protesting that he needed more time.
He consequently appealed to people on his
mailing list to come forward with their stories and set up a medical panel to
analyse them. Cerullo's posters claimed they had 2,250 cases from which to
choose.
A year later, after the medical panel's final
meeting, a public statement from one of the doctors said emphatically that "there is no
evidence that anything has occurred that is outside the realm of normal
clinical experience"
One of the most disgraceful and heartbreaking incidents related to a time when Morris Cerullo paraded a very young [4 years old] girl called Natalia Barned around the stage at Earls Court, together with her mum and then asked the audience to give thanks to God for ‘the healing’ of little Natalia’s bone cancer. Within a matter of 2 months Natalia was dead.
You can view Cerullo’s false claim for ‘Natalia’s healing’ by clicking below
The
British Church Newspaper article that I quoted from stated - –‘Some
ten years after Morris Cerullo’s organisation disaffiliated from the
Evangelical Alliance’. Around the time of the breaking of the link between Morris Cerullo and
Evangelical Alliance the February 1997 issue of ‘Charisma and
Christian Life’ carried an article in its ‘EuroCharisma and Christian
Life’ section entitled ‘UK’s Biggest Church Leaves EA’ and herewith
are extracts from that article –
‘In a move that could
signal a major split in British Evangelicalism, Kensington Temple, claimed to
be the biggest Church in Britain, has resigned from the Evangelical alliance.
The move is a sequel to the recent resignation of evangelist Morris Cerullo
from the EA. A press statement from Colin Dye, the church’s senior pastor said,
“For some time I have felt the Alliance was not adequately representing the
concerns of Pentecostals on the radical end of
the evangelical spectrum. I had hoped that the Alliance would indeed prove
itself broad enough to carry the full breadth of opinion that wished to rest in
it. But despite recent assurances and moves towards total acceptance of a
greater diversity within the Alliance, I find the handling of the whole Morris
Cerullo affair to be too telling to ignore’.
The
fact that wholehearted support for and participation in these MTL events,
even to the point of pulling his church out of the Evangelical Alliance because
of their treatment of Morris Cerullo, appears on the ‘spiritual CV’ of Colin
Dye should be a serious ‘cause for concern’ to Christians who desire
to preserve and protect the truth of God for the honour and glory of His name.
Colin Dye and Roberts Liardon
Over the years I have received much helpful information via the
ministry of Philip Powell who I would describe as ‘a conservative Pentecostal’.
His ministry is called ‘Contending Earnestly for The Faith’ [cetf]. I have in
my possession a number of issues of a magazine called ‘Vanguard’
that Philip, along with other
‘conservative Pentecostals’, helped to publish. In the May 1999 issue there was
Part 1 of an article called ’Unmasked –
Colin Dye’. Phil Powell himself
wrote the preamble and then Neil Richardson penned the bulk of the article.
This article can be viewed online on http://www.christian-witness.org/archives/van1999/cdyer99.html
What I propose now to do is to quote some extracts from both the
preamble by Philip Powell and the main article by Neil Richardson and these
will give you a clear indication of the link that there was between Colin
Dye and Roberts
Liardon.
Extracts
from the preamble by Philip Powell
‘Part of Satan's strategy in the spread of End Times deceptions is to target notable cities and churches. London's Elim Kensington Temple (KT) is one such. I have preached there on two occasions, both when Wynne Lewis, now [1999] Superintendent of the Elim Foursquare Church in Great Britain and Ireland, was Senior Pastor. On the occasion of my first visit in the early 80s KT was just getting going so to speak. After preaching at one mid-week night service I more or less received an open invitation to return and did so later in that decade…On my second visit I met Colin Dye who had become part of the pastoral team. Again, Wynne Lewis told me that the platform was open to me for future ministry. That was before Toronto [The so-called ‘Toronto Blessing’] and my strong stand against the false manifestations and teachings of that abomination. When I went public on the issue, Wynne Lewis contacted me to explain that KT's platform would no longer be open to me if I opposed Toronto. I refused to bow. Since then it has been my sad lot to observe KT descending into all sorts of false teaching as they have increasingly opened their platform to false teachers and false prophets…Heresy opens the door to immorality, corruption, fraud, self-seeking and the like. A number of these things, on close examination, can be discovered in KT’
Extracts from the main article by Neil Richardson
‘Our first criticism of
Colin Dye is his warm and close association with false teachers. Any man who is
prepared to wholly endorse the ministries of Benny Hinn, Morris Cerullo and
Rodney Howard-Browne must be responsible for the detrimental effect of the
teaching and behaviour of these men. Dye shares platforms with these men,
brings them to his churches and conferences as keynote speakers and has in fact
withdrawn London City Church from the Evangelical Alliance because the latter
presumed to inquire into the finances of Morris Cerullo's missionary
organisation. The danger Dye presents to the Christian church today is as much
his capacity as a ringleader and promoter of false teachers, as his role as a
false teacher himself…The first false teacher who is championed and vaunted by
Colin Dye is Roberts Liardon. Most of the information garnered on Liardon is
taken from the following video.
`Are you really ready for the Promised Land?', Roberts Liardon with Colin
Dye (Kensington Temple/London City Church), Noel Richards and Band at
the London Arena, December 12, 1993… This 140 minute, £14.99 video is
brightly covered, with two pictures of Roberts Liardon, one of Colin Dye, one
of the outside of London Arena and one of the main stage (pastors and band
prominent).
The video begins with 26
minutes of singing led by Noel Richards… Then Colin Dye gives a
homily from Psalm 19 about the importance of tithing and the "great
reward" mentioned in verse 11 (This subject of ‘tithing’ is addressed on the Kensington Temple
website on http://www.kt.org/?p=teaching
)…(then) Thanking
Roberts Liardon, he invites him ("a great friend of mine") to
come to speak. "I believe so much in what God is doing through
him...all different streams and traditions are moving into what God has for us
in this day of power, and I believe Roberts is one of God's great prophets and
apostolic figures that He is raising up in the world today to minister that new
spirit, that new anointing from Jesus Christ for the body of Christ at this
time."
Roberts Liardon comes to the front and opens his address in prayer. His prayer is characterised by strident repetition… we thank you that your word shall come unto us!… Not words from man, not words from me, but words from heaven…(at this point Liardon bursts into senseless gibberish that masquerades as tongues sounding something like "sopran-talabikamahai. Woooah branstakahayai!") Then continues… oh England you shall change, hallelujah! England, YOU SHALL CHANGE, hallelujah! We declare it in the heavens, we declare it in hell… that England shall change for the better… Liardon goes on to promise a fun time… Exodus 2 is his text. Jokingly, he accuses the audience of sinning by not having read his books, and plugs them strongly… Egypt, the wilderness and the Promised Land are his three themes. Egypt is identified with the state of unbelieving. To have "the born again experience" is to leave Egypt. “Being born again makes you normal. If you're not born again, you're not normal. If you don't speak in tongues you're not normal either.” The crowd seems a little uneasy with this, and he commands them to say amen (as he often does throughout, seemingly needing confirmation and support for his ideas)… Liardon then heads off on a digression to get the crowd going about how marvellous the space in London Arena is, and what a threat it is to the devil… This is disturbing for at least three reasons.
1. He mocks the devil, which is expressly forbidden in Scripture:[Jude 8-9].
2. He takes God's name in vain, which even in `quotation' should make a Christian squirm (he does this again when mimicking the ten doubting spies).
3. He shouts and whoops in ‘tongues'… None of these publicly spoken `tongues' is given an interpretation…
He embarks, then, on an extended prophecy spoken in the first person as it were the voice of God: a ‘thus sayeth the Lord' prophecy. His prophecy is notable in that it is punctuated by `OHHHs', much finger and hand waving and the same kind of syllables/’tongues’ as before… Liardon works himself and his audience into an incredible lather with this largely meaningless, extremely repetitious shouting, gesturing and prowling. It is classic demagogic hype and mesmeric crowd manipulation- watch any video of Hitler and the similarities will strike you:.. The defiant and contorted features of Liardon's face and the almost enraged tone of his voice as he says, pointing and grimacing, "THE HEAVENS BOW!!" make me think that he is man possessed, flaunting his enmity against God before the very supposed church of God.
In the mould of Rodney Howard-Browne, he "feels led" to pray for preachers of the Gospel… Brothers and sisters, let's not beat about the bush. If Roberts Liardon is not possessed by devils, he is surely deceived by Satan and bringing others with him (2 Timothy 3:13). If he is not deceived, he is a cynical manipulator of gullible church-goers (2 Timothy 3:6). If he is none of these things, he is a vicious, brutal, aggressive bully who evidently takes pleasure in forcing his bulky frame into people's personal spaces, humiliating them and pushing them over…I have not one flicker of doubt that he is a savage wolf in the merest of sheep's clothing (Acts 20:29-30). He is not sparing the flock; he is humiliating them, confusing them and striking them down, physically and spiritually…
The next target is a young woman who does not look preacherly enough for Liardon. He knocks her over after barely listening to her response, commanding demons to leave her. THIS IS NOT PRAYING FOR PEOPLE… There is further ‘clairvoyance' as he tells people about their lives and what `God wants to do in them'… With more yelling and bellowing, he commands more people to come and get the gift of ‘tongues’ or be ‘born again’…
The crowds dispersed to be
‘ministered to' further, but a lone woman comes up to Roberts. She begins to
speak, but he can't be bothered to listen. On her head goes his hand: "I
BLESS you in Jesus' name" and off he goes. Colin
Dye takes over and commands the people to give a thanks offering (i.e. a round
of applause) to Jesus.
If you are still not convinced of the falseness of Liardon, here are…more good reasons why you should be –
1. He claims that he has had a personal tour of heaven given by Jesus who, according to him, is 5'11" with sandy brown hair…
2. In heaven, according to Liardon, there is a building full of spare body parts unclaimed by people who do not have the faith for their healing…
3. There is also a medicine cabinet in heaven with bottles labelled "PEACE" and "OVERDOSE OF THE HOLY GHOST"…
4. Jesus dunked Liardon in
the River of Life and they had a water fight, he says.
5. Jesus and Liardon tell each other jokes.
6. Jesus told Liardon that He was "calling you to a great work. You will have to run like no one else, preach like no one else, be different from everyone else... Go, go, go like no one else has gone. Go and do as I have done".
7. In a vision, Jesus commanded Liardon to mug up on the lives of great army generals whilst he was watching
8. Roberts Liardon takes his name from the great Word-Faith heretic and huckster, Oral Roberts
9. Liardon's website (www.robertsliardon.org) reveals that he actively supports the ministries of some of the biggest heretics this century has seen
It is certain that Colin Dye is a great fan of Roberts Liardon, who is in
turn a tremendous devotee of his namesake Oral Roberts and numerous other
heretics. What is also apparent is that with these men come their false
teaching and bizarre behaviours, and that Dye has deliberately chosen to
associate himself with, and indeed build upon, these ideas and experiences…
On Roberts Liardon’s website there is a photo gallery and currently [in the light of this entire article] you can view the following relevant pictures –
Morris Cerullo
and Roberts Liardon
Colin Dye of
Kensington Temple speaking at International Invasion, Irvine, CA
Let me just mention one ‘fact’ that is not listed amongst the following ‘quick facts’ that are listed on the website –
1. At the age of
23, Roberts Liardon was awarded the prestigious title of "Outstanding
Young Man of America" 1989
2. Personally
spoke in over 100 nations
3. Recognized as
one of the leading historians of church history specializing in Pentecostal and
Charismatic movements
4. Internationally
best-selling author, selling over 6 million books and counting
5. Writings
translated into over 50 languages
6. Built a fully
accredited vocational college for Christian ministers and humanitarian workers
with branches in four nations
7. Founder of Embassy Christian Center,
declared to be one of the 100 fastest-growing churches in the 1990s
8. Member of The Winston Churchill Society
and The Ronald Regan Presidential
Library
9. Received
special recognition from President George W. Bush for his humanitarian work in
Orange County, California
10. Has a personal
collection of church history memorabilia that stands as one of the world’s
largest, containing rare books, films, photos, voice recordings, and personal
effects of leaders of Reformation as well as Pentcostal and Charismatic
movements.
11. Provided
humanitarian assistance in many nations of the world, supplying food, clothing,
and medical assistance for those in need.
12. Helped to
start the first AIDS Prevention campaign in public schools of Namibia, Africa
The ‘fact’ to which no reference is made is detailed on this website http://www.christian-witness.org/archives/van2003/bilby_restor16.html where we read
‘Roberts Liardon is a prominent Charismatic leader based in California, who “confessed” to a homosexual relationship and “stepped down” from the ministry. He was “disciplined” in December 2001 and was back ministering by March 2002 — three months later — to a standing ovation of those who remained in the Church… The following report comes from the Charisma News Serviceweb pages and is dated Monday, March 11th, 2002 (http:// www.charismanews.com/online/ articledisplay.pl?ArticleID=5596):’
‘Pastor and writer
Roberts Liardon preached yesterday at his church for the first time since he
stepped down three months ago after admitting to a “moral failure.” The founder
of Embassy Christian Centre in Irvine, Calif., gave a 30-minute message on
keeping the faith. In December, Liardon confessed to a short-term homosexual
relation-ship with the church’s youth pastor, John Carrette… He received a
30-second standing ovation from about 650 people. Liardon, 36, told the Embassy
congregation that his appearance was “just for one Sunday. I am still working
with my counselling.”… About one-quarter of Embassy members, as well as Bible
college students and missionaries, have left the church since Liardon’s
admission’
Further reference to this moral lapse and the unsound admiration of Liardon for others that he refers to as ‘God’s Generals’ can be found on this link
http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/pentecostal-leader-homo.html
The
fact that wholehearted support for and participation in an event involving
Roberts Liardon appears on the ‘spiritual CV’ of Colin Dye should be a
serious ‘cause for concern’ to Christians who desire to preserve and
protect the truth of God for the honour and glory of His name.
Colin Dye and Rodney Howard Browne
In the mid 1990’s much of my time was taken up with speaking against
the so-called ‘Toronto Blessing’. On a website link www.eauk.org/theology/key_papers/upload/TORONTO%20CHRONICLE.pdf
there is ‘A Chronicle of the Toronto Blessing’ [referred
to as TTB] that was compiled
by Evangelical Alliance. There are a number of references to Colin Dye and
Kensington Temple and herewith are relevant extracts –
‘The weekly Christian Herald carries prayer leader
Brian Mills’ latest reflections on TTB. He reports that Kensington Temple, an
Elim Pentecostal fellowship and “Britain’s largest church” cancelled all
“normal” activities during the month of September “in order to seek God”’
[Brian Mills – Revival – the Missing Elements – Christian Herald 1st
October 1994 p7]
‘…Kensington Temple has recently been seeing “over 800 a
night pack the church”. “KT” pastor, Colin Dye is quoted as commending TTB as
something which can “lead us closer to the Lord” and in an article for the
coming month’s Direction magazine [the magazine of the Elim denomination] he expands on this as he draws parallels
with Isaiah 35. Just as israel is promised revival after a period of spiritual
dryness, so Dye sees the Blessing as an opportunity to reverse the systematic
removal of “God and his values from almost every level of society” over “the
past 50 years”’. [Colin Dye – After the Rain – Direction, November 1994].
Several other extracts from this ‘chronology’ are relevant to this
section and they read as follows –
‘In his regular column
for Christian Herald the prominent Anglican evangelical Tony Higton
reviews a RODNEY HOWARD-BROWNE meeting he and his wife recently attended at
Wembley Conference Centre. Higton is less than impressed. “After an
eight-minute talk on 1 Kings 17 to introduce the collection (the only Bible
teaching)” he writes “Rodney Howard-Browne sang a long repetitive solo to a
jazz rhythm” – “I’m drunk, I’m drunk, every day of my life I’m drunk. I’ve
been drinking down at Joel’s place. Every time and every day I’m drunk with new
wine”. Higton is alarmed at Howard-Browne’s encouragement to the audience
to “get out of your heads and into your spirits” and is clearly
disturbed by the po-going…the loud hysterical-sounding laughter…The Anglican
Rector is offended by Howard-Browne’s labelling of those who leave the meeting
early as “religious dead-heads”‘ [Tony Higton – Opinion – Toronto
Revisited – Christian Herald 14 January 1995 p3].
‘Friday 2nd
June 1995: The Evangelical Alliance hosts a second major consultation on
TTB…David Noakes then proceeds to present TTB as a severe challenge to the
charismatic movement. Suggesting that charismatics, of which he is one, have
now “lost our way somewhat” Noakes recounts a visit he has recently paid to
Toronto…he describes the scene as one in which “anyone prone to easy hypnosis
might have ended up in a trance”. In addition he detects many of the
manifestations as being “demonic” with several women “unmistakably in a state
of high sexual excitement”. Reporting that he heard instruction being given in
Toronto that “discernment was unnecessary, that God was totally in control and
Satan could not get a look-in because the power of God was so great”, Noakes
comments that he “cannot imagine a more deadly piece of advice”. Having
examined the biblical arguments in favour of TTB, Noakes rejects their exegetical
foundation and concludes that “the boundaries of safety which Scripture
establishes are being torn down in order to justify the acceptance of new
experience. This spells utmost danger for God’s people”’.
The
sections just quoted are relevant because they introduce us to the man mainly
responsible for the peculiar manifestation that characterised the so-called
‘Toronto Blessing’ and that manifestation itself was dubbed ‘Holy Laughter’.
The man in question is Rodney Howard-Browne and in the report compiled by Tony
Higton he made reference to a meeting he and his wife attended at the Wembley
Conference Centre in December 1994. The following graphic shows how the
meetings were advertised and I want you to notice the LOGO at the top right of
the leaflet – it is the LOGO of ‘London City Church’, which is of course
Kensington Temple that is pastored by Colin Dye.
The Evangelical Alliance report of what Tony Higton wrote in his column
in the Christian Herald made reference to how he was ‘offended by
Howard-Browne’s labelling of those who leave the meeting early as “religious
dead-heads”’. The
EA report failed to quote the full extent of why Tony Higton was ‘offended’ because in his Christian Herald column he wrote, ‘At
9.40pm some people began to leave. Howard-Browne turned on them. “Tonight is
the first night religious dead-heads showed up. I can smell ‘em,” he shouted.
“Religious people will never understand about God’s presence…It’s not
understood with the mind; It’s something grasped with the heart”. Referring to
their leaving as “a cleansing” he shouted offensively “Every living organism
needs a bowel movement”’.
I obtained a video of the Wembley Conference meeting that was held on
the last evening, 15th December 1994 and in a link that I will
shortly provide you will be able to see about 9 minutes of extracts. Firstly
you will hear some of Howard-Browne’s opening remarks in which he thanks
various people and I want you to note in particular his reference to Colin and
Amanda Dye and the folks at Kensington Temple. You will see shortly after that
the ‘platform party’ and in the front row [to the left as you view it] is Colin
Dye and on his left is Gerald Coates [founder of the charismatic Pioneer church
movement].
The next segment follows a time of ‘ministry’ during which
Howard-Browne has – ‘zapped’ various people and you will see him weaving his
way through the prostrate bodies to make his way back up onto the platform to
read the Scriptures. You will then see excerpts of him reading the scriptures
to the accompaniment of what was earlier described as ‘loud
hysterical-sounding laughter’ and in several long-distance shots of the platform party you will see
that they are simply acquiescing to all that is going on. After finishing
reading the scriptures I will leave it to you to judge the sincerity or
otherwise of Howard-Browne’s petition for God to bless ‘the reading of His
Word’.
To view the Wembley Conference extracts click
here
Whilst in these video clips we didn’t witness any ‘active
participation’ in events by Colin Dye there was an article published in the
February 1995 edition of Evangelicals
Now that gave a report of
the meeting held a few nights earlier on 13th December 1994. Mike Taylor
compiled the report and herewith are some extracts from his article titled ‘Down
and out at Wembley’.
‘Rodney Howard-Browne is seen by many to be the
source of the ‘Toronto’ movement. At the end of last year he led a series of
meetings at the Wembley Conference Centre…The Wembley Conference Centre was
three-quarters full. The time was 7.30pm on December 13. Deafeningly heavy
music had been playing…Rodney Howard-Browne [RHB] came to the front of the
stage…Howard-Browne was getting the audience to chant after him…RHB came out
with a series of aphorisms [pithy sayings] such as “Isn’t God great?” Between each there was a
long gap, even one as long as two and a half minutes, while hilarity
ensued…COLIN DYE was introduced first as the pastor of a large inner-city
church in London, Kensington Temple. RHB handed him the cordless microphone,
all the time standing close by his right elbow.
Colin Dye started talking, appearing rather woozy and
unsteady on his feet, eventually becoming totally incoherent and forgetful.
Suddenly he let out a piercing shout. RHB managed to snatch the microphone as
Colin Dye swivelled round ending up face downwards on the floor, helpfully away
from the front of the platform where RHB was standing. The entire crowd
exploded with much mirth. Colin Dye remained in that position for some time –
no one checked whether he was alright…
At about 8.35pm RHB started
his sermon by stating that people ask where “these things are found in the
Bible”…RHB’s sermon was entirely concerned with outward manifestations. He
first read 2 Chronicles 5:13-14 in the Authorised Version: “the priests could
not stand to minister by reason of the cloud” although he mentioned that
other versions state that they had been unable to fulfil their ministry because
of the glory. He then referred to Colin Dye, “a reserved, respectable” man “who
had fallen to the floor and his Temple with him”. He said “Some of you will get
hit tonight. Some because your hearts are prepared and others because you’re
sitting in the wrong seat, at which the laughter greatly increased. Then he
said “Don’t worry, we’ve got all night”’…
By then it was 9.30pm. It
was evident that RHB was determined that something should happen at the
meeting…he went on to say that the Holy Spirit was on the first four rows of
people [During the whole ‘Toronto’ fiasco RHB blasphemously
referred to himself as a “Holy Ghost bartender” meaning he could dispense the
Holy Ghost just as a barman dispenses drinks] …RHB told
the people from the four rows to come forward and stand in single file – most
came forward but not all. While catchers were being arranged he started at his
left working his way round saying in a loud and impressive voice “Fill” and
touching each person mid chest…They fell backward one-by-one into the arms of
the catchers…a few jerked and laughed…Then more giggling, cock-crowing,
jerking, jumping and so on…I found it interesting that only certain people, for
whom it was expedient, fell over. For instance RHB never fell. The cameramen
and staff never fell. This feature did not seem accidental to me. The Wembley
Conference Centre staff seemed to be totally unaffected.
Just before 10.00pm Colin
Dye consulted his watch. Then at 10.00pm on the dot RHB told the people to go
home and get some rest…I found it hard to believe that anyone had taken the
meeting seriously. Were they unaware of having been manipulated from start to
finish?…The entire thing was most similar to stage hypnotism’.
Earlier I gave some quotations made by David Noakes that
are recorded in the Evangelical Alliance ‘chronology’ of ‘Toronto’. I have in
my possession a copy of a letter issued by David Noakes in the wake of a
meeting that he and 2 other concerned Christians had with 3 leaders of the Elim
National Executive on 31st May 1995. The Elim leaders were Wynne
Lewis, Gordon Hills and COLIN DYE. In
the letter David Noakes wrote – ‘Colin Dye, who as many of you will know is
the senior pastor of Kensington Temple, was responsible for organising the
meetings at Wembley last December at which Rodney Howard-Browne was the
speaker. Our concerns were fully stated but he appeared to reject everything
that was said. Wynne Lewis and Gordon Hills however were much more responsive’.
I would just like to make a point here that all three men who were expressing concern about Rodney Howard-Browne’s ‘antic’s at Wembley were from a Pentecostal and or Charismatic ‘persuasion’.
Did this challenge to Colin Dye dissuade him from continuing along the ‘Toronto’ path? Clearly not. In the EA ‘chronology’ we read –
‘…at the end of June, [1995] Kensington temple
pastor Colin Dye writes in Joy magazine that “this fresh move of the
Spirit threatens the powerless and backslidden body of Christ represented by
Saul [cf. 1 Samuel 15”. By the same token he suggests the movement can also be
viewed in terms of the anointing which passed from Saul to David. As with the
humble shepherd-king, writes Dye “today it will be the insignificant, unnoticed
people who will do the greatest exploits for God”. [Colin Dye – Ready to face
the Giants – Joy July 1995].
More
evidence of his whole-hearted support for ‘things Toronto’ and Rodney
Howard-Browne in particular was evidenced in December 1995. Another series of
meetings featuring Howard-Browne was organised to take place from 4-7 December
1995 at the Olympia Exhibition Centre, National Hall, London. The following
graphic shows the front cover of the promotional leaflet –
On the inside of the front cover were some biographical details of Howard-Browne and a letter from him inviting people along and in which he assured them ‘The investment of your time and finances will be greatly rewarded by the Lord’. Then the back cover was given over to endorsements by ‘leading lights’ mostly but not exclusively from the Pentecostal/ Charismatic ranks. This next graphic is of that back cover –
Because of the background colour of the paper used it’s
perhaps not just too easy to read each of these endorsements so let me type out
for you just 2 of them. At the top left is a photo of COLIN DYE and he
comments read – ‘Experience the power of God in your life as he prepares His
people for Revival through the ministry of Rodney Howard-Browne’.
The other endorsement I want to reprint is that made by
the gentleman whose photo is bottom right – LYNDON BOWRING – Executive
Director of ‘Care’ – he wrote ‘I have been in ministry for 25 years and
moved in many Pentecostal and Charismatic circles, but have recognised in
Rodney Howard-Browne an anointing I have never seen before’.
Perhaps you’re wondering why I chose also to highlight the comments of Lyndon Bowring. Well on this link http://www.themandate.net/team.htm you can find details of the ‘Team’ responsible for organising MANDATE. At the top of the list you will find this –
Lyndon Bowring is the
Executive Chairman for CARE. He is a ‘consultant minister’ at Kensington Temple
and serves as the chair of the Council of Management of Spring Harvest.
In
the light of this it is not too difficult to work out how Colin Dye comes to be
the invited speaker for MANDATE 2008. Have Colin Dye and Kensington Temple
sought to distance themselves over the years from Rodney Howard-Browne. The
answer to that would appear to be ‘no’ for on the KT website, on this link http://www.kt.org/?p=media_archive
you can access audios by various speakers including Rodney Howard-Browne. Just
in passing, others there we have warned about in times past would be J John and
Tommy Tenny.
The
fact that wholehearted support for and participation in events involving Rodney
Howard-Browne appear on the ‘spiritual CV’ of Colin Dye should be a
serious ‘cause for concern’ to Christians who desire to preserve and
protect the truth of God for the honour and glory of His name.
Colin Dye and Ian McCormack
In our June 1997 ‘News From The
Front’ I included an article called ‘Ian McCormack – back from the
dead?’ and the opening sentence read as follows –
“I
was given video of an interview which took place last year [1996]
on the Euro Christian Channel which is available to satellite TV viewers”.
Before continuing with
what I wrote in the article you can view this interview by clicking HERE
The rest of our June 1997 ‘News
From The Front’ article then read as follows –
“This
'Christian' channel was launched last year and the dedication service in London
featured people Like Ulf Ekman (see ‘News From
The Front' February 1997 pages 13-14) and Benny Hinn.
Another face seen at the dedication belonged to Colin Dye who is the senior
Pastor at Kensington Temple. Recently Mr Dye withdrew his church from
Evangelical Alliance and in Charisma magazine (EuroCharisma - February 1997) he
was quoted as saying 'For some time now I have felt the Alliance was not
adequately representing the concerns of Pentecostals on the radical end of the
evangelical spectrum." Just how "radical" Mr Dye is was seen
during his interview with a New Zealand man - Ian McCormack. Set out following
is a transcript of excerpts from the interview between Colin Dye (CD)
and Ian McCormack (IMcC)
CD
"Now, angels with harps, St.Peter at the gate, a fiery pit, whatever your
ideas of heaven and hell, my guest HAS EXPERIENCED BOTH as a reality - stung by
deadly jelly fish and placed by doctors in a mortuary HE HAD A BRIEF GLIMPSE OF
THE AFTERLIFE before God allowed him to continue his life back here on earth.
Ian you have a remarkable story to tell and when you came to my church
Kensington Temple a little while ago you really moved us with that story - I
want to just sit back and listen to that story again - tell me what happened to
you In 1982.
Ian McCormack
now confirms being stung by box-Jellyfish whilst diving off Mauritius. Rushed
to hospital and in spite of anti-toxin treatment he was later pronounced dead.
IMcC
"I found myself in a totally dark void, I found myself wide awake standing
upright and as I stood there I became aware that the darkness had like an evil
presence or a cold and pervading presence of terror. As I stood there I began
to feel people around me as though they were looking at me and as I tried to go
to touch my face, you know it was so dark I found my hand actually passed
straight through it - that's bizarre - it was like I was there but there was no
physical form."
CD
"You were out of the body?"
IMcC
"well it appeared to be and as I felt this presence around me I began to
hear men's voices screaming to me from the right and to the left saying that I
deserved to be there, that I WAS IN HELL and to shut up. As I stood in this
intensely terrifying place I saw a radiant shaft of pure white light pierce
trough the darkness above me - as it shone upon my face I felt a sensation go
through me of power and my entire body seemed to leave, leave the ground and
get translated up into this radiant white light...As I'm being drawn up into
this radiant light I can see that far above me there is a circular shaped
opening where the light is emanating forth from. I find myself enter this
opening and I can see now that it is a tunnel, circular in shape; as I look
along the length of it I can see the source of the radiance. My first
impression is that it's the centre of the universe. I watch as a wave of light
comes up towards me and I find myself being drawn at an amazing speed towards
this light. As this first wave comes up it touches and an amazing sense of
warmth and comfort floods through me...another wave...this time total peace
filled me...the third wave...joy and excitement. Towards the central core it
was like a white fire...As I thought that to myself a man spoke to me from the
centre of the light asking me if I wished to return, calling me by name. I
thought, return where? I looked behind me, directly behind me, I saw this
tunnel going back into darkness...As I stood there I said "I do not know
where I am"...he said "if you wish to return you must see things in a
new light"..."Are you the true light?" As I asked that question
words appeared in front of my eyes "God is light and in him there is no
darkness at all" 1 John 1:5...I felt so you know what I mean, I was in the
wrong place, I felt like I should crawl back under some rock or go back into
the pit where I belong. I don't belong in the presence of God...I thought, I've
cursed God, how on earth can you love me...I said God I've broken your
commandments. I've slept around; I've taken drugs, why are you doing this? As
I stood there more and more of his acceptance began to flow in me. As it did I
found myself weeping uncontrollably because I didn't think that God could love
me."
CD
"Ian, there in such an experience GOD gave you, the opportunity to come
back or presumably just to go on to be with Him, what was it like faced with
that choice?
IMcC
"Well, I didn't want to come back...I looked and saw a man standing with
dazzling white robes...I felt a purity and an amazing holiness coming forth off
his face...I could see behind him like a brand new earth or brand new
planet...He said "Ian, now that you've seen do you wish to go in or do you
wish to return?...I thought I'll look back and then step through - as I looked
back I saw directly behind me my mother in a dear vision,..My mother I found
out later was praying for me at the precise moment I was in that ambulance; she
was on her knees...God had shown her my face and said your eldest son Ian is
nearly dead so she'd been praying right through that time...well I looked back
and God showed me that it wasn't just my mum to return for because he showed me
thousands of other people...I said "I don't know these people;" He
said, "son I love them all, I desire them all to come to know me;" as
I saw these people I just realized that God's heart's so great...He spoke; as
He spoke He said "son, tilt your head, now feel the liquid drain from your
eye, now open your eye and see." I was instantly back in my physical form
in what appeared to be a morgue...I looked to my left and saw nurses and
orderlies and they saw me looking at them and they dived out of the doorway
like a ghost had come or a corpse had come back to life. From all I could
figure out 15 minutes was the time they'd lost me."
CD
Ian, that's an amazing story and obviously you've had a very special experience
with God but can everybody get to know God like that without these experiences,
simply by believing the Bible?"
IMcC
"Jesus said clearly if you will turn from your sins, if you'll turn from
darkness, if you'll repent and come to him, the light of the world, he said
I'll cleanse you of all your wickedness, I'll cleanse you of all your sin and
he said I'll receive you and I know that he delivered me out of great darkness
and brought me into his glorious light."
Ian McCormack
appeared to be a very sincere young man whose life has been completely turned
around by this experience and it was good to hear him pointing people to Christ
for salvation. However, was his experience truly a journey through hell and
heaven and an encounter with God?
To answer that
we need to consider what the Word of God teaches and in Luke 16 verses 19-31
we read of two men who died - one went to heaven ("Abraham's bosom")
and the other went to hell. The one in hell wanted the man who'd gone to heaven
to come to him with a drop of water to cool his tongue. This was Abraham's
reply "between us and you there is a great gulf FIXED so that they
which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us that
would come from thence."
The Word of God
teaches that it is not possible for those dead to pass from heaven to hell or
from hell to heaven as Ian McCormack stated happened to him. Ian claims that
God sent him back to bring a message to thousands of people whom God loved and
desired to bring to Himself. The man suffering in hell in Luke 16 wanted
someone to go back to warn his five brothers - "if one went unto them
from the dead they will repent" - this is basically what Ian claims
God told him. Abraham's reply was "If they hear not Moses and the
prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead."
In view of the
poisonous toxins affecting Ian it is possible this was a hallucinatory and/or
demonic experience, which Colin Dye should have rejected in the
light of biblical truth. As for Ian's pointer
to Christ we should remember the damsel of Acts 16v16 who had a spirit
of divination and yet she pointed people to listen to Paul and his message of
salvation. Paul didn't leave her deceived, he delivered her. May Ian likewise
be set free from deception to serve God "in spirit and in truth."
Ian McCormack today has a ministry
website http://aglimpseofeternity.org/
and he still clearly maintains his sincerity and enthusiasm but I fear there is
still much deception overshadowing him. On the ‘Teaching Materials’ page
of his website there are a number of articles listed that Ian has written. One
of them is called – “Changed by His glory’’ – and herewith are some
extracts –
‘When I came to the Lord in 1982, I was taken to a church
meeting – the first meeting I ever been to since I had given my life to Jesus.
And when I came into the car park of the church I
saw the radiance of God’s Glory billowing out of the church. I stopped in the car park, quite shaken,
because I was not seeing with natural eyes this
light but with eyes of the spirit I could see the Light of the Glory of God.
AWESOME Spiritual Light on Earth …... I asked my friend “What kind of a church is
this?” She replied, “Oh, it’s an
Assemblies of God church. It used to be
a supermarket”. I said “What? Oh man, many people are starting to think I
am nuts seeing all this supernatural stuff but now
we have a church which has God’s Glory residing in and I can see His light
billowing out of it ”.
The
poor woman who was taking me to church thought I was going to run! But this was
the last thing I wanted to do. I was actually seeing in the Spirit the light of heaven
pouring out of a church. I
walked into that church and looked around and I did not see one person look at
me. They were all standing with their
arms raised and speaking in tongues. I
thought, “Well, here’s a bunch of whacko’s in here too”. But I didn’t feel afraid. They didn’t seem
to be worshipping anything. I just saw
a bunch of chairs up the front, and thought,
“What the heck are they doing?”
Next
minute the door opened and in through the door came 5 men. The first man
that came out had red hair and his face had light exploding out of his face. Everyone else had very little bit of light
on them, but this guy was just radiant.
I thought, “Who on earth is this guy?”
I watched the other four guys sit down – a couple go up and spoke – it
didn’t mean much to me. Then this guy with the light got up and spoke, and I went
“Whoa!!” I was right at the
back of the church, and as he spoke I saw demons and
they were sitting there talking to me saying, “Don’t listen to a word this man
is saying.” I rebuked the demons,
telling them that this man is speaking the truth. I am in a spiritual battle going on for my
soul, in the meeting. The guy at the
front says “Those who want to give their hearts to the Lord, come forward.”
I got up, went to the front and the pastor said “God can see every thing in your life, and I’m going to come down and pray for you and bless you”. I felt he could see everything in my life too! I bowed my head and immediately said “God, I know you can see everything in my life, but I pray that you keep him away. I don’t want him anywhere near me. I mean, anything could happen here!”
So,
I’m praying this guy away and the next minute I looked down and saw his
feet. In those days he wore white
shoes; I could see his shoes; I could feel something
above my head, and next thing – Bam! In
the glory! It was my first
time in church since my experience in Mauritius. The glory of God
was in there and I’m standing in this light and glory with my eyes open. I then shut my eyes and the Lord spoke to me and said
“Be at peace, son; you can walk in
this light; you can stay in this; you can remain in this”. I
opened my eyes and suddenly the light disappeared and right beside me was a
Messianic Jew who then ended up discipling me. He now has a church in Israel – he had also personally met the Messiah and seen His Glory
– and he became the man God used to disciple me…
The door into eternity is Christ Himself. I often enter into the Spirit
realm through Him. I often get taken
into the spirit realm again where I come into the Light of His radiance – His
Glory – then He opens up the door and I go in. I find the reverse when He comes back down here into this
earth realm. I’ve often seen it through the Cross
– not a wooden cross, but a cross of light
because He is the light of the world. And often before I see Him coming, I see the angelic coming
first, and I know the meeting is going to be changed because I’ve seen His angels coming before Him, actually
preparing the way for Him to come”.
Sincere and enthusiastic as Ian McCormack clearly is,
when I look at what he has written and in particular the portions I have
highlighted in red, I am reminded of the words of Paul in 2nd
Corinthians 11:4 & 14 “For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom
we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not
received, or another gospel which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with
him…And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light”.
Unlike Colin Dye who said to Ian at the end of the interview, ‘you’ve had
a very special experience with God’ I am not at all convinced that the
events of 1982, described by Ian McCormack, were a genuine encounter with the
true and living God of Heaven. Sadly I see no reason to alter the words that I
concluded my original 1997 article with – May Ian
likewise be set free from deception to serve God "in spirit and in
truth."
The
fact that wholehearted support for and unquestioning acceptance of these
claimed events involving Ian McCormack appear on the ‘spiritual CV’ of Colin
Dye should be a serious ‘cause for concern’ to Christians who desire
to preserve and protect the truth of God for the honour and glory of His name.
When
I found out that Colin Dye is to be the MANDATE 2008 speaker I
did make contact by email with Kensington Temple and herewith are relevant
extracts from the exchanges that took place
-
|
Subject: |
For Colin Dye |
||
|
Date: |
14/04/2008 11:41:45 GMT
Standard Time |
||
|
From: |
|||
|
|||
Dear
Mr Dye,
I have been carrying out some research about
visitors/speakers to London in the 1990s - in particular Rodney Howard Browne
and Morris Cerullo.
From my research I have noted that you were
personally committed to and involved in the planning of meetings such as the
Morris Cerullo MTL's for 1993, '94 and '95 and the RHB Revival meetings at
Wembley in December 1994 and the Olympia Exhibition Centre in December 1995.
I was wondering if [with hindsight] you would
currently like to express any views on these meetings - for instance - do you
believe they were Holy Spirit directed and if they were to happen now would
they have your similar full support or would you perhaps reconsider your
position on giving any such support?…
I hope my email is not too much of an
inconvenience and I look forward to hearing from you
Cecil Andrews
|
Subject: |
RE: For Colin Dye |
|
Date: |
15/04/2008 10:58:03 GMT
Standard Time |
|
From: |
Dear Cecil
Thank
you for your email to Pr Colin Dye. I have to let you know that he has long
since stopped responding to questions of this type – on any subject - that come
‘out of the blue’ like this; where he has no information about the person
asking or the purpose for which his answers will be used.
While
I cannot guarantee that Pr Colin will be in a position to comment or to help
you, if you wanted to let him know more details about the project you are
researching, how it is that you think that he would be able to assist you and
what you intend to do with his input – please email directly to me and I will
pass them on.
Regards
Michelle Bennett
PA to Senior Minister
|
Subject: |
Re: For Colin Dye |
||
|
Date: |
15/04/2008 12:02:40 GMT
Standard Time |
||
|
From: |
|||
|
|||
Dear Michelle,
‘Thank you’ for your email. I am currently planning to
write an article that refers to the support that Mr Dye gave to
visitors/speakers such as Morris Cerullo and Rodney Howard Browne. Clearly he
gave them his full support and endorsement when they were here in the UK in the
1990’s and I simply wanted to know whether today he feels that their meetings
were truly Holy Spirit directed and also, with hindsight and the passing of
time, would he still give them his full support and endorsement…
Yours sincerely
Cecil Andrews
To date I
have had no further communication from Kensington Temple. On 17th
April I also arranged by phone to meet on Tuesday 6th May with David
Millen of Evangelical Ministries who helps oversee this whole event. A few days
after arranging the meeting I then received the following email –
|
Subject: |
The Mandate speaker |
||||
|
Date: |
21/04/2008 13:53:16 GMT
Standard Time |
||||
|
From: |
|||||
|
|||||
Dear
Mr. Andrews,
David
Millen advised me last week of your reservations about our speaker
this year and as I am the current chairman of the Mandate organising committee
he asked me to contact you.
As
a committee we seek to use speakers who can address the themes we believe God
has laid on our hearts. We also seek God's guidance in the choice of speakers,
and particularly those that God is using to build His
Kingdom. We recognise that within the Church there is a fairly wide
theological spectrum among those who adhere to the fundamentals of
the Christian faith as indeed there is among the delegates attending
the Mandate. It is therefore impossible to get speakers who will tick
everybody's theological box as it were. I know that this has been a problem for
you in the past and you have expressed your views about some of our
speakers.
As
a committee our goal is to be led of God in putting together a programme that
will challenge, encourage and better equip men to live as God intended at
home, in their place of work and worship and in society. A key part of
this is through using speakers and worship leaders from across His Church who
He is evidently using irrespective of their denominational tag.
Yours
in Christ,
Paul
brown
I replied
to this email as follows –
|
Subject: |
Re: The Mandate speaker |
||||
|
Date: |
21/04/2008 14:12:59 GMT
Standard Time |
||||
|
From: |
|||||
|
|||||
Dear
Paul,
Thank
you for your email.
At
present I have arranged to meet with David on Tuesday morning 6th May @ 10.00am
[DV] at Rick's Cafe/Restaurant in the Carryduff Shopping Centre to share with
him my concerns. Perhaps you might want to chat with David with a view to
joining us - I'd be quite happy with that.
Your
servant for Christ
Cecil
Andrews
On Monday
28th April I then received the following email from David Millen –
|
Subject: |
RE: The Mandate speaker |
||||
|
Date: |
28/04/2008 09:55:20 GMT
Standard Time |
||||
|
From: |
|||||
|
|||||
Hi
Cecil,
As
you know, I had spoken to Paul Brown, re. your contact, and he has been in
contact with you. The Mandate is run jointly by EM and Care for NI , by a
committee chaired by Paul. I think in the light of his comments in his
email to you, regarding how we choose our speakers, that I would have
nothing further to add, and therefore I have decided to cancel our
meeting on the 6th May.
David
I replied
as follows –
|
Subject: |
Re: The Mandate speaker |
||||
|
Date: |
28/04/2008 10:23:57 GMT
Standard Time |
||||
|
From: |
|||||
|
|||||
Dear
David,
I
would confirm receipt of your email cancelling our planned meeting for Tuesday
6th May. Whilst you clearly feel that you have 'nothing further to add' to Paul Brown's comments about
how and why a speaker is chosen for MANDATE
it is somewhat sad that you are not open to hearing and
learning of genuine, fact-based worrying spiritual concerns as they relate
to Colin Dye.
As
you obviously intend to press ahead with arrangements as currently advertised I
shall in due course make public the concerns that I had hoped to share
with you.
Your
servant for Christ and His truth
Cecil
Andrews
'Take
Heed' Ministries
I
had originally planned at this stage to conclude this article by drawing
attention to a number of areas of concern that can be identified on the current
website of Kensington Temple but I’m sure that you, like me, are by this point
probably sufficiently aware of why I believe that the invite for Colin Dye
to speak at MANDATE 2008 truly is ‘another cause for concern’ and
so I would simply suggest that these are meetings to be avoided.
Cecil Andrews –
‘Take Heed’ ministries – 29 April 2008.