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Cecil Andrews, 29 Edengrove Park, Ballynahinch, BT24 8AZ, Northern Ireland Telephone/Fax 028 9756 5511. E-MAIL - takeheed@aol.com WEBSITE - http://www.takeheed.net Quick Links - Home - Assorted Articles - Audio/Video - Ministry Newsletters - Words of Wisdom |
The
‘Prophetic Poison’ of Gerald Coates in ‘Songs of Praise’
On Sunday 27th
November 2011 the BBC 1 Television programme ‘Songs of Praise’ began the first in a series of ‘Advent’ programmes in the run up to Christmas.
The theme for this particular programme focussed on Old Testament ‘prophecies’ that foretold the birth of
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Handled correctly and
biblically this should not have proved to have been any threat to Orthodox
Christian belief – however we must remind ourselves that this was produced by
the overtly anti-Christian BBC and true to form they arranged for the programme
to be laced with what I have termed ‘Prophetic
Poison’.
The programme was
presented by Diane Louise Jordan (I’ll
have more to say about her later) and in the course of the programme she asked someone for
their views on ‘prophecy’ – who was that someone – a man called Gerald Coates.
Gerald
Coates is someone
that over the years I have ‘mentioned in dispatches’ on quite a number of
occasions. Going back to 1997 I wrote the following in the February 1997
edition of ‘News From The Front’ –
Gerald Coates' Pioneer Team and Celtic Spirituality
I was sent by Christian friends a copy of an audio tape of a talk
which was given to Gerald
Coates and workers in his
Pioneer Team by Roger Ellis (Chichester). To refresh minds Gerald
Coates is one of three people
who started the Marches for Jesus. He also fully endorsed the ministry of
Rodney Howard Browne one of the 'key players' in the 'Toronto blessing' fiasco
describing him as 'a breath of fresh air' and he referred to the heretical late
Malcolm Muggeridge (for details of his heresies see 'News From The Front' December
1995) as a 'major prophet.'
On this tape Mr Ellis was urging people to go back and try and
capture the 'Celtic Spirit.: As I listened to this very 'atmospheric' tape (on large
segments a continuous drumbeat is heard and folk-type music is interspersed at
intervals) I was highly alarmed by many
of Mr Ellis' statements and noted many of them down planning to mention them in
this article. However in the providence of God I was sent a copy of a little
booklet called 'Modern Celtic Spirituality' by Paul Fahy and in the latter part
of this booklet Mr Fahy gives a very good analysis of this very tape by Mr
Ellis.
One of the expressions used by Mr Ellis which I noted with alarm
was 'they (the Celts) looked to
release the divine spark in the people that they were evangelising.' Mr Fahy
comments "What is meant by this spark is the image of God, but salvation
is not releasing this image, it is a radical transformation by new life. This
can be misinterpreted as the doctrine of the mystics currently much in vogue
through New Age teachings...that is the releasing of what is 'the divine in
every man.' This is completely anti-Christian...Man does not have a divine
spark which only needs to be fanned into a flame. He is dead towards God and
totally corrupt. A corpse cannot help himself."
In his booklet Mr Fahy did not mention Mr Ellis by name and in his
introduction explains why - he writes "the original draft of this paper
was a reaction to a specific taped talk by a leader in a well know
network...The seminar was analysed and critiqued severely. However I felt that
I should try to contact the speaker before I went into print. I have now had a
number of conversations with this brother...He deeply regrets the way the tape
can be interpreted and intends to rewrite his lecture for future
engagements...Consequently I have agreed to withdraw his name from this
critique (at my suggestion, not from pressure) but will refer to statements
made as indicative of the general trend and use them as a foundation for
refutation."
Mr Fahy's decision to afford Mr Ellis anonymity is his personal
choice but I feel under no obligation whatsoever to do likewise as this is yet
another instance of those who claim to be Spirit-anointed departing radically
from the truth as found in God's Word. There is no doubt that now that the
excitement surrounding 'Toronto' has begun to subside it will be necessary for
the leaders in (the extreme) charismatic
circles to be on the look-out for some new 'spiritual plaything' to offer their
followers and I just wonder if 'Celtic Spirituality' might be the next course
on the menu.
You will note that in
that short article I made reference to ‘Toronto’
and this of course was the so-called ‘Toronto
Blessing’ that infected large parts of professing Christendom in the mid
1990’s. Much of the ‘credit’ for spreading this viral ‘Blessing’ in the UK was
down to the ‘ministry’ of one Rodney
Howard Browne. On video of a meeting that he held in England the supportive
platform guests included Gerald Coates. After ‘Toronto’ eventually subsided there
was a lull in Charismatic activity and frenzy but then in 1999 reports started
appearing of a new phenomenon being claimed by the Toronto Airport (Vineyard) Fellowship where the so-called
‘Blessing’ had originally incubated. This was a claim that God was miraculously
turning ordinary tooth-fillings into GOLD tooth-fillings. I made reference to
this in an article in my September 1999 ‘News
From The Front’ – this is what I wrote –
Gold Strike in Toronto?
There
are times when watching ‘things Christian’ on TV that I cringe and think to
myself ‘what must the unsaved think as they watch this’? Such an occasion
occurred whilst watching ‘Tonight’ broadcast by ITV on 15th July 1999. For
almost 15 minutes the latest ‘charismatic craze’ was exposed and examined in
front of millions of viewers.
The
opening shots showed many people seated prayerfully with their hands clasped –
not together but around their jaws. The prayer of the pastor at the front could
be heard filling the auditorium – ‘In the name of Jesus – fill teeth Lord –
replace amalgam fillings with gold and with platinum’. Who were these people,
what was the location and who was the pastor/prospector praying for an
infilling, not of the Holy Spirit, but of precious metals? We were in TORONTO –
birthplace of the 1994 so-called ‘BLESSING’. Same fellowship and same pastor –
John Arnott.
We were
treated to Mr Arnott trying first to interview one laughing lady. Then he said
to another man – ‘Let me see what God has done’ and after inspecting the man’s
mouth [ably
assisted by a torchbearer] he asked ‘How
can God turn porcelain to gold’? And quick as a flash the man replied ‘My God
can do anything’. Next we had close ups of open mouths [lit up by
torchbearers] belonging to some who
believed they had received new or replacement gold fillings. All this was to
the accompaniment of excited squeals like those uttered by game show or lottery
winners.
The
scene then shifted to England where similar ‘miracles’ were being claimed and
once again we were re-tracing the 1994 TORONTO TRAIL. Now we were in the
company of Gerald Coates and his Pioneer Church.
Listen to this extract of the interview with Mr Coates
Interviewer: ‘In your view how significant is this?’
Mr Coates: ‘Well, God doesn’t
intervene in many of the situations we would like Him to because He would have
to intervene in everything that we say and do that is wrong right the way
through to some of the most terrible things happening in nations. What He does
is He gives us signs that He is with us and that we can draw help from Him.
Jesus changed water into wine. THAT HAD NO FUNCTION REALLY. They had already
run out of wine in the party so HE WAS ONLY AIDING AND ABETTING MORE DRINKING’.
Interviewer: ‘So you think this is a modern equivalent of that – that
this is a bona fide miracle?’
Mr Coates: ‘Yes. I think it’s
true to say that GOD IS TOUCHING PEOPLE WITH GOLD AS SIGNS THAT HE IS STILL
WITH US and although millions have turned their backs on Him He has not turned
His back on us’.
Mr Coates claims turning water
into wine ‘had no function really’. Is that what the scriptures teach? John2:3
says “when they wanted wine” – Bishop Ryle wrote – ‘By a mere act of will he
changed water into wine and so supplied the need of all the guests’. Jesus met
a practical need. But He did much more as we read in verse 11 “This beginning
of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory and
his disciples believed on him”.
The
miracles of Jesus not only showed forth His glory but as the June 1999
Evangelical Times [in
their article on the ‘gold fillings phenomena’] put it ‘were not an end in themselves but a divine authentication that
the one who performed them had been sent by God’ and they wisely added ‘These
biblical miracles continue to serve the same purpose and do not need to be
repeated’. True disciples today need no such ‘SIGNS’ to comfort them on their
Christian pilgrimage. They have a blessed “comforter” the One promised by the
Lord in John 16:7.
A visiting
‘revivalist’ from Chile was then shown ‘in action’ at Mr
Coates’s Pioneer Church. Miguel Escobar was shown praying ‘God, give
them gold fillings tonight’ following which he shouted repeatedly ‘Receive it!
Receive it, by faith’. Asked to comment on the ‘miracles’ Mr Escobar said ‘This
is probably the closest expression IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY to see God or
touch God’. According to Mr Escobar getting a gold filling would therefore
exceed the experience of seeing or touching the Lord Jesus Christ who walked
this scene of time almost 2000 years ago. Well did the Lord Himself say in
Matthew 6:21 “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”.
According
to a report by the ‘Back To The Bible’ group based in The Netherlands [Newsletter 16] this ‘tooth fairy’ nonsense was also
peddled in Holland by both Mr Arnott and Mr Escobar during visits there by them
in May and June.
Several
claims for similar happenings in other parts of Canada led to embarrassing
retractions by Canadian TV Evangelists William Thiessen and Dick Dewert after
dental records showed their personal claims of ‘miracles’ were totally spurious
[Source
– National Post, Canada, 12 May 1999].
During
Mr Escobar’s ministry at Pioneer excitement centred on a lady called Sally who
it was believed had perhaps experienced the transfiguration of some tooth
fillings and this was greeted with shouts of ‘thank you Jesus’ and applause. At
the end of the TV report Sally was interviewed and we learned that nothing
miraculous had happened. In spite of this she claimed her faith was stronger
and she had felt the presence of God at the meeting. Her composure was indeed
admirable but her judgement is questionable and in many ways reflects
discernment conditioned by teaching from the likes of Mr
Coates.
They
should all heed Psalm 19:9-10 “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for
ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be
desired than gold, yea than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the
honeycomb” and to those who obey God says in Psalm 81:10 “open thy mouth wide
and I will fill it”.
In
the light of these few examples it is clear that Gerald Coates is a most unreliable source to be asking for views on
‘prophecy’. When introducing him, Diane Louise Jordan stated that the
Pioneer Church Movement, that Mr Coates had founded, has about 500,000 members
across the UK and that “he believes that
prophecy is part of his ministry today”.
At
the outset of his comments Gerald Coates
claimed that he had never styled himself as a ‘prophet’ – I’ll have more to say on
that shortly – but he did say ‘I’ve
always wanted to speak on God’s behalf’ He then claimed that over many
years praying with people that often they would say to him ‘how did you know all of that?’ – His answer was ‘of course I didn’t know but I’m suddenly
aware that there is someone else at work here (how right he is but wrong
about who it is) – this has to be
God’. In
the light of a few examples I’ll mention shortly I think it will be very
evident that it is not God ‘at work’ when Mr Coates speaks ‘prophetically’.
Returning
at this point to the claim made by Gerald
Coates that he had ‘never styled
himself as a prophet’ – this is simply NOT TRUE. In 1991 Kingsway
Publications published a book called ‘An
Intelligent Fire’ and the author? – Gerald
Coates. This was basically his autobiography of his life up to the time of
publication. The first 9 of 11 chapters each had a title with dates in brackets
for example – Chapter 1: The Beginning
(1944-1956); Chapter 2: The Turning (1956-1961). When we come to page 85 we
find this Chapter
5; The Prophet (1973-1980).
I want now
to quote some extracts from this chapter –
‘Many
Christians live with locked-up minds… With women effectively silenced
throughout the Christian community, there has been very little room for
intuitive skills. The prophets also had been silenced…
With women and prophets silenced, the church was
like an army fighting with one arm behind its back, with an eye patch over one
eye, hobbling around on one leg… I sensed a call to be
a spokesman for God – a prophet… speaking for God is one thing – being a prophet? Well, that’s another…
However,
the early seventies were not times to prophesy in
the evangelical church… I knew that real Christianity could not be reduced to a
set of rational propositions (Cecil – biblical doctrines) and moral idealism (Cecil – sanctified Holy living).
The church needed revelation (Cecil – ‘Sola
Scriptura’ obviously not enough for Mr Coates) and
an anointing (Cecil
– God’s gift to every believer at conversion of the Holy Spirit obviously not
enough for Mr Coates).
Come Together was a prophetic statement about
the unity of the body of Christ… Well do I remember hosting the first major Come Together production of the tour.
London’s Westminster Central Hall was jammed to capacity… Later 5500 people
filled the Royal Albert Hall. Malcolm Muggeridge was interviewed. I, the minor prophet, liked the major prophet. Was it
the same spirit? Was this aging, balding, somewhat affected, super-annuated
journalist reading my mind? What were these deep stirrings? Why was I hanging
on every word, being carried along by the very tone of Malcolm Muggeridge’s
observations and predictions? Later, with Anona (Gerald’s wife) I spent many happy hours in the farmhouse home of Malcolm
and Kitty.
Cecil – here we have Gerald Coates referring to himself as a
‘minor prophet’ and
labelling Malcolm Muggeridge as a ‘major prophet’ putting forth ‘predictions’ that Gerald ‘hung on’. Malcom Muggeridge was NO CHRISTIAN as I
have shown clearly in various articles that I have written over the years and
in which his beliefs have been referred to – just one example from my article
located on http://www.takeheed.net/News_From_The_Front/September2006.htm - I wrote -
“Very briefly can I say that Malcolm
Muggeridge held views that were in opposition to God’s revealed truth. In
his book ‘Jesus Rediscovered’ Mr Muggeridge wrote ‘I firmly believe
there is a divine light in every human being ever born or to be born’ [p167]. Shortly after he wrote ‘On that same visit to the Holy Land I came to feel quite certain
that not even Judas had irretrievably cut himself off from the love of God’
[p168]. When asked what he thought was going on at Calvary Mr Muggeridge
stated [p170] ‘I think that men had
to be shown that the way to revelation [(Cecil - not
redemption?) was through suffering…that the image of a man dying because of the
truth he embodied (Cecil - not giving his life a
ransom for many?) established
for ever what truth is – something you die for’. When asked if that was
how he understood the atonement Mr Muggeridge replied ‘Absolutely, absolutely’.
Speaking of the devil Mr Muggeridge said ‘I am not particular about a personal devil. I shan’t be distressed
if there isn’t one’ [p172]. On
page 173 when asked ‘Do you think
that Jesus was a product of evolution or do you think that this was a
miraculous intervention?’ Mr Muggeridge replied ‘I’m always allergic to miraculous interventions because I don’t
observe them in life [every spiritual ‘new birth’ is a miracle!] and I don’t think that it makes Jesus
any more remarkable if he represents a miraculous intervention…how Christ came
into the world doesn’t matter’ (Cecil - If Christ
entered the world through natural procreation, as a ‘sinful son of Adam’, He
could not have offered Himself for sacrifice as the spotless ‘Lamb of God’!). Having supposedly ‘Rediscovered Jesus’ which church did Mr Muggeridge proceed to join? – The Roman Catholic”
Friendship
with the vicar of Cobham led me, the minor prophet,
and he, the moderate cleric, to lead a series of meetings entitled “The Family
Meet”… In 1979, Kingdom Life, based in Cobham was started’.
These
short extracts demonstrate quite clearly that Gerald Coates was wrong when he claimed on ‘Songs of Praise’ that
he had never styled himself as a ‘prophet’. As to his question as to whether or not
he and Malcolm Muggeridge were being influenced by ‘the same spirit’, I
think the answer will be scripturally obvious to all genuine believers.
As
for any ‘prophecies’ made by Gerald
Coates let me mention just one example of where he got it spectacularly
wrong. In the February 1997 edition of ‘Evangelicals Now’ an article by Alan
Howe (then
of ‘Christian Research Network’) entitled
‘False Prophecy Today?’ was
published. The article focussed in particular upon the failed ‘prophecies’ of Gerald
Coates. Mr Howe wrote at the very beginning –
“In the contemporary church we seem to be witnessing a
marked growth in false prophecy and false teaching”
The
entire article can be viewed on http://www.e-n.org.uk/473-False-prophecy-today.htm
- I would especially draw attention to the God-dishonouring events
that followed in the wake of Mr Coates’ failed ‘prophecy’ concerning an earthquake
that was supposedly going to devastate Lake Taupo in New Zealand. In the wake
of this and also another failed ‘prophecy’ detailed
in the article Gerald Coates should
have, in the light of Deuteronomy 18:20-22 been recognised for the false ‘prophet’ that he truly is but sadly that has not been the case
in these days of “seducing spirits”.
Pentecostal
Preacher, Jacob Prasch, also made reference to these failed ‘prophecies’ when he published ‘An Open Invitation to Gerald Coates’. Part of that ‘Invitation’ reads as follows –
Dear Gerald Coates,
In 1990 you were perhaps chief among those who embraced
the prophetic predictions which we have on video of John Wimber, Paul Cain,
Mike Bickel and the Kansas city Prophets, that the greatest Revival in
Britain’s history would come to Britain in October of 1990. In the 5 years
since, more Mosques have been built in Britain than Churches. Who had the
Revival Mr Coates – Mohammed? There has never been a repentance by either
yourself or those who falsely predicted revival in the name of the Lord. You
and they were dead wrong, and others misled by you.
Whilst
this particular publication by Jacob Prasch is not online there is a
similar-themed article on his web site that can be accessed on http://moriel.org/MorielArchive/index.php/discernment/church-issues/nar/paul-cain-r-t-kendell-and-friends
All
of the names mentioned in that short extract from the ‘Invitation’ by Jacob Prasch are also mentioned VERY favourably by Gerald Coates in his book ‘An Intelligent Fire’ that I quoted
from earlier.
In
particular Gerald Coates gave
prominence to supposed ‘prophet’ Paul Cain by devoting an
‘Epilogue’ in his book to ‘Paul
Cain’s Prophecy’. This is the same Paul
Cain that sadly had a very spectacular ‘fall’ and turned out to be an
alcoholic homosexual as you can read on http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/orrel19.html
Returning now to ‘Songs
of Praise’ at one point in the programme Diane
Louise Jordan asked Gerald Coates
“How would you define prophecy?” A brief summary of what Gerald Coates said would be that God
has spoken to the world in creation, **in
scripture, in His Son and today He speaks ‘prophetically’ in ‘words and actions’. He was then
asked “Do you hear His voice?’ and
his answer was “something you see,
something you feel and you just know this is the voice of God”. I’m sure
every Mormon who claims to have experienced ‘a burning in the bosom’ would say
‘Amen’ to that dangerous definition.
** I should point out that Gerald Coates believes there are ‘discrepancies’ in the Bible. In his
book ‘Divided we Stand’ he wrote the
following on page 82 – ‘He (Jesus) left it to imperfect
men, with imperfect minds, to record such incidents – which is why I believe
there are “discrepancies” in the gospels’.
Mr
Coates then supposedly
cited a personal example of how God used prophetic words and actions that he had spoken and carried out. He related an incident
involving a lapel microphone and a well-known ‘Christian’ broadcaster. This
incident was also recorded in a book that Mr
Coates wrote called ‘The Vision’ – it
was published in 1995 at the very height of the so-called ‘Toronto Blessing’
that Mr Coates fully and publicly endorsed.
Before I quote some
sections from that book it’s interesting to see what Gerald Coates wrote by way of dedication at the front of the book.
He wrote –
‘To
the late Malcolm Muggeridge, whose writings and friendship meant more to me
than he ever knew. Also to Ravi Zacharias whose writings and friendship made
Jesus more attractive and intelligible. Can anything be more wonderful than
that? Thank you.’
The tribute to Malcolm
Muggeridge should come as no surprise in the light of what I have already
written but the linkage in the dedication to Ravi Zacharias was most interesting. I have previously written
warnings about the views of Ravi
Zacharias and one of the points of concern I identified was how someone
attached to his ministry was engaged in promoting the views and memory of
Malcolm Muggeridge.
My concerns were aired
in an article I wrote called ‘After ECT (Evangelicals
and Catholics Together) will there be an EMT?’ (Evangelicals
and Mormons Together). The
entire article can be located on http://www.takeheed.net/News_From_The_Front/JUNE2005.htm but this is what I wrote relevant to Ravi Zacharias –
So
what does the EMT in the title of this article stand for? Well,
it stands for ‘Evangelicals and Mormons Together’. Since
last year I have been receiving details of meetings [both public and private]
that have been taking place in America and it seems to me that they are
following the same pattern established in producing ECT. The following
is part of an article that was published in the Casper Star & Tribune
[Wyoming] on Friday 19 November 2004 –
‘An evangelical preacher, philosopher and
author has graced the pulpit at the Tabernacle on Temple Square in what a
fellow speaker called an "historic occasion." When Ravi Zacharias took the stage last weekend it was the
first time in 105 years a preacher of another faith appeared in the pulpit of
the Tabernacle. Zacharias was invited by
Standing Together, a network of 100 evangelical churches trying to improve
relations with members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The lecture, where nearly 5,000 evangelicals and
Latter-day Saints sat together on Temple Square, was heralded as the beginning
of a new era to replace one of mistrust’…Zacharias, a native of India
raised in Canada, acknowledged there are doctrinal differences between
traditional Christianity and the LDS faith. His
hour-long sermon emphasized aspects of Christian doctrine for which Mormons
have a different understanding, such as sin, salvation through the cross and
the Trinity. But his overarching message -- that
Jesus Christ is the answer to the longing in all human hearts -- was one that
resonated with both evangelical Christians and Mormons. "When you get the Son, you get the way, the truth and
the life," Zacharias said. Sisters Sylvia and Liz Wilcox, who are members
of the LDS Church, said they were impressed with Zacharias' message."It
was beautiful," said Liz Wilcox. "I loved the focus on the unity.
They did a beautiful job of finding common ground."
‘After
receiving your email I went to his web site and noted the following which rang
alarm bells for me.
1. Ravi Zacharias is listed as being a 'Visiting Professor'
with Wycliffe Hall in Oxford. This is a pseudo-evangelical college where
Alister McGrath [close friend of compromiser J I Packer] is one of the main
figures there. McGrath is actually mentioned on the Ravi Zacharias
International Ministries web site's page about Wycliffe Hall. I wrote an
article about Alister McGrath and his views on the Catholic Catechism
and you can see it by following the ministry newsletter link on my web site http://www.takeheed.net/MARCH%202004.htm
2. In Ravi Zacharias's details on the web site mention is
made that he spoke 3 times in Amsterdam [1983, 1986 & 2000] at the
International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists - and who asked him to
speak there - BILLY
GRAHAM!
3. One of the 'Ministry Team' listed on the web site is Dale Fincher
who is described as 'a professional actor and apologist' - that in itself seems
rather 'odd'. However he has performed in the 'Muggeridge Centenary'
at Wheaton College and also performs 'Malcolm
Muggeridge: The Man Who didn't belong'… Malcolm
Muggeridge held views that
were in opposition to God’s
revealed truth. In his book
‘Jesus Rediscovered’ Mr Muggeridge wrote ‘I
firmly believe there is a divine light in every human being ever born or to be
born’ [p167]. Shortly after he wrote
‘On that same visit to the Holy Land I
came to feel quite certain that not even Judas had irretrievably cut himself
off from the love of God’ [p168]. When asked what he thought was going on
at Calvary Mr Muggeridge stated [p170] ‘I think that men had to be shown
that the way to revelation [not redemption?] was through suffering…that the image of a man dying because of the
truth he embodied [not giving his life a ransom for many?] established for ever what truth is –
something you die for’. When asked if that was how he understood the
atonement Mr Muggeridge replied ‘Absolutely, absolutely’. Speaking of
the devil Mr Muggeridge said ‘I am not particular about a personal
devil. I shan’t be distressed if there isn’t one’ [p172]. On page 173 when
asked ‘Do you think that Jesus was a
product of evolution or do you think that this was a miraculous intervention?’
Mr Muggeridge replied ‘I’m always
allergic to miraculous interventions because I don’t observe them in life [every
spiritual ‘new birth’ is a miracle!] and
I don’t think that it makes Jesus any more remarkable if he represents a
miraculous intervention…how Christ came into the world doesn’t matter’. Having
supposedly ‘Rediscovered Jesus’ which
church did Mr Muggeridge proceed to
join? – The Roman Catholic Church’.
I think that we can see from this that Ravi Zacharias is an ‘evangelical’ in the Billy Graham mould and that should immediately ring alarm bells for all true and faithful evangelicals. So, if an EMT agreement is in the offing, who better than Ravi Zacharias could be found to prepare the ‘evangelical’ ground to accept such a notion just as Billy Graham, over many years, prepared the ‘evangelical’ ground for the notion of ECT?
For me it’s just
fascinating to see how so many people that I have written warnings about all
swim together in the same heretical pool of deception.
Returning now to Gerald Coates and the example of his prophetic words and
actions that he cited on ‘Songs of Praise’ this is how he related the
same incident in his book ‘The Vision’ (pp 64-67)
–
‘I
have had more than one significant prophecy and words of encouragement from
charismatic evangelicals and non-charismatic Evangelicals concerning my role in
the media… It is easy… to see all that become a self-centred motivation… But I
had to ask myself the question: “Is the most important thing here that it is me
who does it?”… One morning whilst sitting in the last session of Britain’s
National Evangelists’ Conference, the well-known British Evangelist Steve
Chalke was bringing the breaking of bread meeting to a conclusion… Out of the
blue, without any warning I received the most fantastic idea – that I should
give a small microphone brooch that I wore regularly to Steve Chalke… But I had
learned through trial and error (a great deal of trial and not a little error)
that this was the voice of the Holy Spirit.
When
the meeting was over I walked up to Steve… So that there could be no confusion
due to my nervousness I asked another friend and colleague Stuart Pascal to
witness what I was about to say… Falteringly I explained… that I felt I should
now give it to him. I went on to say that I would be praying that he would
become a voice to the nation, particularly through the medium of television…
Six
months later Steve came to a prayer event I was leading in London and went out
to supper afterwards. “Got a story to tell you” he smiled. What unfolded was
nothing short of remarkable. A few days after receiving the microphone brooch
he had his car stolen…. He explained how he was obviously very disappointed at
the loss of the car and all his belongings but particularly the microphone
brooch… He then received a phone call from the police… they had found one or
two personal effects. He went to the police station to find his briefcase,
completely empty of everything – except for the pin brooch. He told me “I just
felt the Lord was saying to me “There you are Steve.
When I give you a prophetic word I will fulfil it” (Cecil
– in the light of Steve Chalke’s denial of ‘Penal Substitution’ I am reminded
more of the saying “The devil looks after his own”) … within days he was asked to do a ten-minute slot on British national
television for a brand-new, two-hour, thirteen-week series on Christianity. He
went on to fulfil a regular slot on ITV’s Breakfast Television for GMTV. I
could hardly contain myself. I was delighted, thrilled and privileged to play
some small part in it’.
So, the prophetic words and
actions of Gerald Coates supposedly
helped further the broadcasting career of Steve Chalke. Personally I wouldn’t
like to have that on my spiritual CV in the light of Steve Chalke’s denial of
the truths of ‘Penal Substitution’ and God’s 6-day Creation. I wrote about all
these and more in 3 articles located on -
http://www.takeheed.net/News_From_The_Front/DECEMBER2004.htm
http://www.takeheed.net/News_From_The_Front/March
2005.htm
http://www.takeheed.net/News_From_The_Front/June
2006.htm
I stated earlier that I would say a little bit more
about the programme presenter Diane Louise Jordan. Basically I would just like to remind
readers of the influence that the Alpha course and a few other biblically
questionable events had on the life of this lady. In my June 2000 ‘News from
The Front’ I wrote the following –
‘Alpha News’ – March – July 2000
On the
front page of this newspaper there is a photograph of TV presenter
Diane Louise Jordan and underneath we read
‘A video explaining the vision for the Alpha supper initiative in September is being sent to all the 7000 churches in the UK running Alpha. The video is introduced by TV presenter Diane Louise Jordan’.
Half
the text of page 3 is given over to supplying further information about this
project and the remainder of pages 3 & 6 is entirely devoted to
Diane Louise Jordan’s ‘testimony’.
In all the articles on these pages about the video and Diane Lousie Jordan herself there is not one mention of Jesus Christ. There is not one usage of the word sin. There is not one reference to either Calvary or The Cross. There is not one mention of conversion or having been born again.
There are in fact quite a number of disturbing and dare I say it ‘diabolical’ incidents referred to as the following extracts from the ‘testimony’ will show.
When somebody dies in your family you ask the questions, "What is it all about? Where do we go after this? But I remember feeling quite peaceful about my sister dying because I really believe she was going somewhere better…While I was at Blue Peter, there was a producer friend who I got on with famously. He was trendy…he loved partying…We were once stuck in a hotel near Auschwitz…so we sat at the bar all evening…and in the middle of this conversation he announced that he went to a church in the centre of London where they had discussions about faith. It wasn’t churchy and a lot of media people went there so I should feel at home…I told him I didn’t believe in Christianity and it wasn’t for me…
A
couple of years later we found ourselves in Argentina…On my day off I was lying
on my bed with my eyes wide open when I had this massive vision. I saw my
sister…There was no stress on her face…She told me that she was in heaven with
God. It was a beautiful experience but I was freaked out and cried
uncontrollably…Later on my friend came to find out where I was and I told him
what had happened. He said that it was probably God
[Luke
16:27-31 would teach differently]
…when I was leaving Blue Peter six years later…they invited me to present one episode of ‘Songs of Praise’ from LOURDES which is an incredibly spiritual place
[The
question is which ‘spirits’ are active at Lourdes]
…one evening we went to the Grotto…I just stood at the side…and I just could not stop crying…I came back from there feeling quite changed…From that moment on I actually started telling everybody I was a Christian…I remembered that my producer friend had mentioned this course…It was called an Alpha course…I spoke to him about my experience in Lourdes and he just said "Yeah, I think you ought to go and do this course"…Then in 1998 I was invited to present ‘Songs of Praise’ about Alpha from Holy Trinity Brompton…It felt fantastic…and I thought "I’ve really got to go back and do this Alpha course". So I went back and completed the course and during that time GOD SORT OF CREPT UP ON ME REALLY GENTLY AND HE HAS KEPT CREEPING EVER SINCE
[I
read in my bible of ‘conviction’ and ‘conversion’
but
I’m struggling to find God ‘CREEPING’].
In conclusion let me give the link to another helpful article written by
Chris Hand, pastor of Crich Baptist Church. Chris had in earlier times been
involved in the charismatic scene but the diabolical so-called ‘Toronto
Blessing’ opened his eyes to all that deception and he was rescued from it.
Chris was my guest here for meetings back in October 1997 and in my February
1998 ‘News From The Front’ I gave the following short report on his visit –
Visit
Of Chris Hand (12th-17th October)
I am
pleased to report that the meetings at which Chris Hand spoke under the title 'From Toronto To Truth' were very well
attended and Chris's message was very well received. Shortly after his visit
ended I received a letter from someone who attended one of the meetings - they
wrote “I really enjoyed that night. I knew I was into the wrong things before
Chris Hand spoke and had turned away but didn't know from the beginning I was
in a church like that. Only when he spoke did I realize that I thought he was
talking about me...I thank God now after 6/7 years He has got me somewhere
where I can have peace in my heart knowing I will not be deceived that way
anymore.”
The link to the article
by Chris is http://www.takeheed.net/Words_of_Wisdom/CliffGeraldThePope.htm
When it comes to
assessing ‘The
Prophetic Ministry of Gerald Coates’ one verse of scripture speaks
very loudly to all who may come within his orbit –
“Beloved,
believe not every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God: because
many false prophets are gone out into the world”
1st John 4:1
APPENDIX
As I said at the outset,
this ‘Prophetic
Poison of Gerald Coates’ featured in the first of a series of ‘Advent’
programmes for ‘Songs of Praise’. Sadly the drip-feed of spiritual poison by
the BBC in these programmes continues. In their programme last Sunday, 11th
December the theme was a ‘Dickensian Christmas’ and they focussed on the life
of the brilliant author Charles Dickens
who they portrayed as being a Christian.
In his book on cults ‘Strongholds Shaken’ local pastor,
David Legge, wrote this on page 77 under the heading of ‘Unitarianism’ –
‘Many
famous historical figures were Unitarians. Among them are five past presidents
of the United States: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Millard
Fillmore and William Taft. In the literary world we learn that Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson and CHARLES DICKENS (Cecil
– emphasis mine) all classed themselves as Unitarians’.
By the very name,
Unitarian, these people deny the truth of the Triune Godhead and so view the
Lord Jesus Christ as being merely a man. They elevate human conscience to an
authoritative level above that of the Bible. They see no atoning value in the
death of Christ on the Cross and His resurrection is viewed by many as simply being
a perpetuation of His thoughts and teachings. For Unitarians generally, ‘salvation’
is universal – all will be well.
In the upcoming programme
for Sunday 18th December, one of the guest singers in ‘Songs of
Praise’ will be Joe McElderry. This
young man won a TV talent competition a few years ago. Since then he has ‘come
out’ as a professed practising homosexual. Genuine Christians will once more be
confronted with a supposedly ‘Christian’ programme giving airtime to someone
whose lifestyle flies in the face of what genuine Biblical Christianity stands
for – but does the BBC care? – Not for one moment as they relentlessly pursue
their anti-Christian agenda.
As many may know, TESCO
have cancelled some of their charity support for cancer research and have
redirected it to the tune of £30,000 to sponsor the planned 2012 London ‘Gay
Pride’ march Many Christians have written to Tesco to lodge their disgust
at this decision and have also decided to boycott shopping at TESCO. On TV
today there was an advert for a music CD of Joe
McElderry singing Christmas carols – and where can it be bought – in TESCO.
Recently I received the
following email from a concerned Christian brother in the Lord – it sets out
the TESCO situation very well and perhaps some way wish to make there views
known to TESCO in the light of its contents.
Cecil
Andrews – ‘Take Heed’ Ministries – 14th December 2011
Dear Friends
I am writing again to Tesco about its links with
London and World Pride. Complaint has thus far been futile.
By Tesco leading this year’s London Pride, with
Tesco staff carrying the rainbow flag and promising money and resources for
next year --- providing a “safe, relaxed and chilled out place with
family-friendly entertainment and activities aimed at younger children” --- it
may attract the Pink pound, but badly damages its public image.
The public will soon need to accept not just
homosexuality but an increasingly extreme range of sexual orientations. The
main resistance to this pressure to conform comes from Christians who, apart
from losing their jobs, having their businesses shut down, being dragged
through the courts and threatened with physical violence, are being held up for
public ridicule.
It seems that Tesco is already experimenting with
this tactic. The Head of Research and Development at Tesco.com, Nick Lansely,
did a dramatic reading of James Kirkup’s “The Love That Dares to Speak
its Name”, videoed and posted it on Youtube.
It is a description of a necrophilial (an
‘orientation’) soldier having sex with/on the crucified body of Christ. [WARNING EXTREMELY
OFFENSIVE; but remember before you avert
your eyes, judging by what our children are already exposed to in
schools, this, in time, is what they will be led to accept.]
“The Love That Dares to Speak its Name”
http://annoy.com/history/doc.html?DocumentID=100045
Nick Lansely, Head of R&D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG7lf2tlkKk
Nick Lansley, reading the Blasphemous poem on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=0mGBJsTJDbs
Nick Lansley is on the team of Out at Tesco that
organised Tesco’s leading this year’s London Pride 2011
http://home.outattesco.com/newsletter/index.php?page=newsletter-manua
Nick Lansley is clearly visible at the 2-minute mark
on this Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HOYJhMSZjA
Nick was also on hand to record an event held in
June 2008, when the National Secular Society (NSS) gathered in a London
restaurant to celebrate the repeal of the Blasphemy Laws. Here Sir Ian McKellen
OBE gave a spirited rendition of the above poem and boasted of ripping pages
from the Bible – something he proudly confesses to doing whenever he finds one
in a hotel room. At the bottom of the NSS web site we read: “Nick Lansley
recorded the event.” http://www.secularism.org.uk/bbbpartyreport.html
Had McKellen distributed cartoons of the dead
body of Mohammed being sodomised, whilst tearing pages out of the Q’ran all
hell would have been let loose - globally.
Why is it that Christian employees and customers
don’t have the same human right to feel that they are victims of incitement to
religious hatred as are Muslims? Why are Muslims protected from such hatred by
Tesco and Sir Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights
Commission, and yet the sensibilities of Christians can be openly mocked and
trampled on?
Why can Nick be publicly identified with
promoting Lesbian Gay Bi-sexual and Transsexual (LGBT) rights whilst
simultaneously encouraging what many people of faith (and others) would
consider profoundly blasphemous --- even an incitement to religious hatred?
Other Tesco employees, especially Christians
cannot make a critical remark of the LGBT for fear of being sacked. I received
this recently from a concerned Tesco employee:
“Let
me open by apologizing for my going through the absurd necessity of using a
fake email address – my employer (Tesco) has been known to take action against
members of staff who are identified as making any remarks online which could be
considered derogatory. (This is advice handed out by our union, USDAW – never,
ever mention Tesco on Facebook, Twitter, etc). I simply cannot run the risk
that my real name would be associated with the comments I am about to make.
(which is not meant to question your personal integrity, it is simply a risk I
cannot take).”
Tesco should be in the business of providing
essential goods and services. Homosexuality is not a state of being like being
black; it is an emotional and psychological disorder. When a black woman goes
to sleep she is no less black than when she is awake. There is nothing that a
black woman can do to make herself either less or more black. On the other hand
a homosexual is only homosexual when his imagination leads his emotions,
desirers, actions, habits and character to become homosexual. This
orientation can either become stronger or weaker. Movement into and out of
homosexuality can and does travel in both directions. But it seems that this
travel is only allowed in one direction: from heterosexuality to homosexuality
– never the reverse.
In 2 Peter 2 it describes how God condemned the
cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example
of what is going to happen to the ungodly. It says that “He rescued
Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the
lawless, for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented
in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard.” Are we
prepared to be distressed or do we wish to bury our heads in the sand?
Please write to Tesco letting them know your
views and intentions:
richard.broadbent@tesco.com: Chairman of Tesco
philip.clarke@tesco.com: International and IT
Director
richard.brasher@tesco.com: Commercial and
Marketing Director
Andrew.higginson@tesco.com: Chief Executive of Retailing Services
and Group Strategy
ceo.customerservice@tesco.co.uk
I am
Yours in Jesus Christ