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Now, consider the so-called "miracles" emerging from the "Brownsville Revival". I have either witnessed all of the following myself (in person or on video tape), or heard reports of the following from eye-witnesses. People fall over (this is called "slain in the Spirit" or "prostration"), people laugh, people belch, people jerk, people bow at the waist, people vomit, people crawl on their hands and knees and bark like dogs, people scream and shriek, people dance, people jump off of platforms into an imaginary "river" flowing just off the platform, people tuck their hands under their armpits, flap their arms, and cluck like chickens, and so on ad infinitum. The overarching defining quality of the "Brownsville miracle" is this: things happen that can be duplicated by mere human effort. Note that in virtually all cases there is no practical reason for the supernatural event. Rather, people are pursuing experiences for the sheer sake of the experience. Next I contend that not only should these demonstrations not be called "miracles," but they should not even be called "manifestations" of the Spirit.
Now, consider the so-called "miracles" emerging from the "Brownsville Revival". I have either witnessed all of the following myself (in person or on video tape), or heard reports of the following from eye-witnesses. People fall over (this is called "slain in the Spirit" or "prostration"), people laugh, people belch, people jerk, people bow at the waist, people vomit, people crawl on their hands and knees and bark like dogs, people scream and shriek, people dance, people jump off of platforms into an imaginary "river" flowing just off the platform, people tuck their hands under their armpits, flap their arms, and cluck like chickens, and so on ad infinitum. The overarching defining quality of the "Brownsville miracle" is this: things happen that can be duplicated by mere human effort. Note that in virtually all cases there is no practical reason for the supernatural event. Rather, people are pursuing experiences for the sheer sake of the experience. Next I contend that not only should these demonstrations not be called "miracles," but they should not even be called "manifestations" of the Spirit.
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Now, consider the so-called "miracles" emerging from the "Brownsville Revival". I have either witnessed all of the following myself (in person or on video tape), or heard reports of the following from eye-witnesses. People fall over (this is called "slain in the Spirit" or "prostration"), people laugh, people belch, people jerk, people bow at the waist, people vomit, people crawl on their hands and knees and bark like dogs, people scream and shriek, people dance, people jump off of platforms into an imaginary "river" flowing just off the platform, people tuck their hands under their armpits, flap their arms, and cluck like chickens, and so on ad infinitum. The overarching defining quality of the "Brownsville miracle" is this: things happen that can be duplicated by mere human effort. Note that in virtually all cases there is no practical reason for the supernatural event. Rather, people are pursuing experiences for the sheer sake of the experience. Next I contend that not only should these demonstrations not be called "miracles," but they should not even be called "manifestations" of the Spirit.
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SEE ALSO GREAT EXPOSES OF WOLVES IN SHEEPS CLOTHING http://theexposes.weebly.com/index.html
THE FLUFF AND STUFF
Just because some have perverted prosperity I am not going to lump them all together and throw it out. The Bible does teach that God wants to prosper us and healing is available to us that believe. You have extremes in all doctrine and in every camp/denomination etc. That is not true that health and wealth ends with man, and signs and wonders with Jesus. I have seen more extremes and fruit loops in the signs and wonders camp then anywhere else. Chasing non biblical signs and wonders that have nothing to do with Jesus. I hear more of Jesus being preached and sound biblical teaching from Word of Faith then the others. When gold dust, gold teeth and so called angel feathers are chased (and I have seen people crawling around on the floor looking for gold dust, gems etc) over an encounter with the Lord something is wrong. There is more preaching about the fluff and stuff then Jesus! Time and time again people have been caught planting such foolishness. So this camp is no better where exalting Jesus is concerned then those that do pollute the prosperity message. I am all about the glory of God and His presence, but a lot of the foolishness going on with the signs and wonders camp are no better than the extremes of some in Word of 2
Faith. The Bible tells us what signs believers are to expect and they are to follow us, not us chase after them!
Now, consider the so-called "miracles" emerging from the "Brownsville Revival". I have either witnessed all of the following myself (in person or on video tape), or heard reports of the following from eye-witnesses. People fall over (this is called "slain in the Spirit" or "prostration"), people laugh, people belch, people jerk, people bow at the waist, people vomit, people crawl on their hands and knees and bark like dogs, people scream and shriek, people dance, people jump off of platforms into an imaginary "river" flowing just off the platform, people tuck their hands under their armpits, flap their arms, and cluck like chickens, and so on ad infinitum. The overarching defining quality of the "Brownsville miracle" is this: things happen that can be duplicated by mere human effort. Note that in virtually all cases there is no practical reason for the supernatural event. Rather, people are pursuing experiences for the sheer sake of the experience. Next I contend that not only should these demonstrations not be called "miracles," but they should not even be called "manifestations" of the Spirit.
THE GREEN RIVER OF BROWNSVILLE LIFESTYLES OF THE RICH AND NOT-SO FAMOUS
A lot of things get counted at the Brownsville Assembly of God. It is the site of some fantastic claims and what has been called the largest local church revival in the history of America.
Since the inception of the so-called Pensacola Outpouring on Fathers Day 1995, grandiose claims have been made about the revival services hosted four nights a week, 48 weeks a year for the past three years. More than 2.5 million people reportedly have attended these services. The number of decisions for Christ is claimed to top 133,000.
All sorts of figures abound as a result of this purported last days revival and outpouring of the Holy Spirit. But these figures are quite selective and ambiguous. For example, the attendance total and number of decisions, in many cases, reflect the same person making repeated visits and decisions.
What is more disturbing is what is not being reported. Throughout the revivals public relations campaign, little, if any, coverage has been devoted to the large amount of 3
cash being funneled into the churchs coffers and into the key leaders independent ministries through donations and by way of the sale of videotapes, literature and revival paraphernalia. Once Pensacolas local newspaper got involved, the public learned how lucrative the revival business is.
Beginning in the fall 1997, following several months of exceptional investigative work, the Pensacola News Journal released a series of award-winning articles challenging the questionable practices of the leadership of the Brownsville Assembly of God church. The paper revealed a carefully planned and orchestrated revival by the churchs leadership the antithesis of the claimed spontaneous move of God and has shown how some claims have been fabricated to enhance the revivals reputation.
The Brownsville leaderships financial benefits have become a focal point for the newspapers ongoing reports. PFO has long contended that the revival was more commodities and merchandising than biblical sanctification. (See The Murky River of Brownsville, The Quarterly Journal, April-June 1997.) The News Journal information only sustained in greater detail what PFO had already discerned.
For 1997, the newspaper estimated the total revival revenue was between $4.3 million and $5.4 million for that one year. These figures were based upon on-site donations and contributions, sales of books, tapes and other literature, and funds from two ministers conferences sponsored by the revival.
Offerings from the Friday night revival services are given directly to evangelist Stephen Hill. According to tax records secured by the newspaper, the Friday weekly evening offering averaged in excess of $20,000, and in 1996 (the first full year of the revival) these donations gave Hills ministry, Together in the Harvest, nearly $1 million. Some pastors do not receive $20,000 a year, let alone $20,000 a week! A representative for the church estimated that the average collection during each of the weeks other three services is $12,500 nightly.
Indeed, revival has been very, very profitable for the men overseeing this purported move of the Holy Spirit. Three of the revivals principal leaders have all acquired large tracts of land by way of their independent ministries and have built or are currently building opulent homes.
The newspaper disclosed that Feast of Fire, the ministry of church pastor John Kilpatrick, bought 16 acres in Seminole, Ala., and constructed a combination bus barn, guest house and office. The barn was built to accommodate the $310,000 deluxe motor coach (literally an apartment on wheels) to chauffeur the pastor on his revival- related travels. Also on the property, Kilpatrick has built a $340,000 luxury home. All of this comes despite the pastors hollow declaration that: I have always strived to set an example by not living above the means of my people. Kilpatricks salary from his 4
ministry in 1996 was $100,000 (for which the newspaper claimed he worked 20 hours a week) and he received a $73,600 annual salary from the church.
Evangelist Hills ministry has also flourished since the revivals inception. Together in the Harvest reported an increase in its land assets from no property in 1994 to over a half million dollars worth two years later. In 1996, it bought 40 acres of land in Lillian, Ala., and, according to the newspapers account, has subsequently paid to refurbish a house for Hill and his family, remodel an existing barn into living quarters and build a distribution center, duplex house and an office building on the property just across the Florida state line. The cost of the Alabama parcel was listed at $887,931.
While Hills ministry did use nearly 10 percent of its 1996 income for specific assistance to individuals, a sizable percentage went to those directly connected with the revival or with Hill, including Kilpatrick, theologian Michael Brown, singer Charity James and others.
Hill has also told revival attendees about an orphanage in rural Argentina that Together in the Harvest has supported. Following assistance from the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires, the Pensacola newspaper located the orphanage. The paper stated, A spokesperson at the orphanage said Hill had been in a mission group that helped build the orphanage in the 1980s. But she also said the orphanage had not heard from Hill for about 10 years, and she asked the News Journal for Hills address so the director could write Hill and ask for a donation.
Michael Brown, theologian for the revival and president of the Brownsville Revival School Ministry, has followed the lead of Kilpatrick and Hill and is also moving west. Browns organization, ICN Ministries Inc., recently purchased an 11-acre tract in Alabama. The paper reported that Brown and his wife are building a house, which their building permit estimates at $727,360 construction cost, on a portion of the land that his ministry ICN purchased. Brown was quick to point out that ICN is not paying for construction of any house anywhere, the newspaper said. Brown, in a letter to the editor, challenged the papers report and said that My wife and I are not building a home valued at $727,000. ... Actually, the official appraisal sets the value of the house and its three surrounding acres of property at less than $425,000, equal to the value of our home in Pace [Fla.].
Browns home in Pace was purchased in 1996 for $419,000 and is located at a gated subdivision on a golf course. Reporters from the newspaper told PFO that they stand by their original figures for Browns new home.
Despite the News Journals exposure of the dramatic upsurge of the revival leaderships lifestyles, a lack of financial accountability remains. After three full years, the revival leaders still have not gained certification from the Evangelical Council for 5
Financial Accountability (ECFA), although two of the three, Kilpatrick and Hill, have formally applied, Brown has not.
The vigorous pleas for donations continue unabated. Let us give joyfully, for the need is so great is an anthem heard as revival leaders sometimes spend as much as 20 minutes of the services asking for donations. The appeal for funds has also gone beyond the church walls. Hills Together in the Harvest ministry made a recent solicitation by way of a mass mailing from names acquired at the revival. The newspaper said that Hill tells his letter recipients that Jesus has informed him that He is coming back in the near future, and He wont tolerate sinners.
Hill even pretends to have God speaking: Let them know My warm season of grace and mercy will soon turn to a chilling winter of judgment and wrath. ... The warm days of My wooing will be exchanged for the fiery days of My vengeance, he wrote in his funds appeal letter. To encourage the need for donations and their urgency, his accompanying newsletter said that the cost of saving souls was mounting. Evidently, so is property and its upkeep in Alabama.
As the fiscal fortunes realized in the past few months set the future standard for these men and their ministries, more time and energy will be devoted to the raising of funds. They will soon find, if they have not done so already, the ministry, its needs, and their lifestyle will take on an existence of its own. Expenses will be the machine that relentlessly drives them. During dialogue about the large sums of money being invested into the personal fortunes of these men, one Brownsville staff member recently asked PFO director G. Richard Fisher, Does that offend you? You bet it does, and it does because of the following.
The mounting greed has perhaps caused these men to be blinded to what they are doing to people and if it is not their desire for fortune, then it may well be born out of an appetite for fame and power. Reports are now being heard that people have come to the revival services with dead babies hoping and praying for the resurrection of the deceased children. The men responsible for the revival have long contended that the day is coming when raisings from the dead will be commonplace within the Church. And they have even claimed reports of resurrections. How appropriate Peters words apply here: In their greed these [false] teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up (2 Peter 2:3).
Peter also advised that elders not be in ministry for gain (1 Peter 5:2-3). Brownsville leaders are setting their faithful, gullible and desperate followers up for even bigger disappointments and horrendous grief.
Perhaps the money lust has inured the Brownsville leaders to the bizarre and pathetic. In July, they were featuring David Hogan, who claimed 300 raisings from the dead in 6
Mexico. Of course, no evidence was offered and details were sketchy. An e-mail message to Brownsville from PFO produced no documentation, just a fax number for David Hogan. Brownsville leaders did not seem to want to stand by what goes out from their pulpit. They would offer no documentation or names and places for Hogans claims.
Two requests were sent to Hogans fax number asking for his credentials for ministry and the names and locations for the raisings. PFOs request for the specifics have also gone unanswered by Hogan or his ministry.
Even more regrettable is how all of this has taken the revival even further away from the moorings of Scripture. The apostle Paul, in establishing the qualifications for Church elders and overseers, states that he should not be a lover of money and not pursuing dishonest gain (1 Timothy 3:3, 8). Temperance must be held by the Church leader in many areas of life, including his finances and material possessions. The Evangelical Commentary on the Bible notes: The overseer must be respected for his behavior. He must open his life to others and be able to communicate Gods truth (pg. 1105). No doubt the communication spoke of by the Commentary addresses not only oral expressions, but also a lifestyle which testifies to the Gospel.
Paul further writes to Timothy that an elder must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devils trap (1 Timothy 3:7). According to statements from the Pensacola News Journals writers to PFO, the reputation of the Brownsville leadership regretfully lacks the good standing in the community that Paul insisted on. They are viewed as money changers in the temple.
The revival leaders charged the newspapers reports contain factual errors and distortions. In spite of their reaction (laced with measures of intimidation), the News Journal cannot be so easily dismissed. A good degree of responsibility and a desire for change must be demonstrated by the Brownsville leaders. Certainly they cannot give an unequivocal silver and gold have I none.
If there is not serious change and repentance, the revival and its leadership will drift into even greater perversion. They may have fat bank accounts and fat wallets but in the end that does not impress God. The leadership in Brownsville has forgotten the words of the Savior: Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth. ... but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-20). When a river turns green, it means its polluted and in the end the green river of Brownsville may well be its downfall. Christ came to make us right, not rich.
The "Pensacola Revival" is the directly linked to the TB (Toronto Blessing i.e Toronto Curse) , as the fateful 1995 Father's Day outbreak. Both Steve Hill and the leadership of the Brownsville Assembly of God had gone to Toronto to receive the "anointing" personally. "Strange, unusual and wonderful things started happening after Brenda Kilpatrick came back from the Vineyard church in Toronto, Canada . . . signs of early revival started manifesting in the spring services . . . What had been seen in Toronto started happening among the people of Brownsville . . . Brenda explained how she had a drastic change in her prayer life. 'I could never be the same again after I returned from Toronto." (The Source of "The River" By Pastor Bill Randles) Brenda then proceeds to tell one of these 'wonderful things' - being frozen in one position for over two hours! This is the very same occurrence in RHB at Carpenters Church in Florida. "The time had come for God to allow His move at the Pensacola church. [Brenda explains] 'We had a friend named Steve Hill . . . He called us about his impartation that he had received from England. He was just on fire with a new anointing of what God had given him. We were so excited and said, 'Maybe this will bring revival when Steve comes . . . '" Pentecostal preacher Joseph Chambers wrote in The End Times Newsletter, (March-April 1997, p. 8). "For several weeks leading up to this time [the beginning of the manifestations in Pensacola], some changes had been taking place, and some of the members of Brownsville AOG had been traveling up to Toronto meetings, even taking carloads and vanloads of members along. Mrs. Kilpatrick [the pastors wife] made two trips accompanied by the wife of one of the church officers. Rev. Kilpatrick [pastor of Brownsville AOG] started to drive up there one time, but his trip was interrupted and he returned to Pensacola without making it to the Toronto airport vineyard meeting. I saw no mention of this in his book. When this series of meetings began in Pensacola, a lot of organization had to be done in a hurry--namely, the formation of prayer teams and how to deal with the people who came forward. The order of the day was: Thats how they do it in Toronto" (Dr. Herb Babcock, former member of Brownsville AOG, "Thats How They Do It in Toronto!" "Our pastor's wife went to Toronto in February or March of 1994, I don't remember when for sure, but when she got back...without even telling of any of the manifestations she had seen...a few started that very Sunday 8
she returned. She came back healed of things...so changed that Pastor was jealous of the refreshing touch God had given her! "Then Lindel Cooley became our new worship leader. Our other one was anointed but Lindel brought something more....He, too, had visited Toronto right before he came to Brownsville." Kilpatrick showed the congregation a video of a Toronto Blessing service, in which people fall to the floor, "slain in the spirit," as they feel the Holy Spirit taking over them. Kilpatrick had followers of evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne attend a Brownsville service, where they functioned as an example of highly expressive worship. Howard-Browne, a dramatically energetic evangelist who calls himself the "Holy Ghost bartender," is known for promoting the "holy laughter" phenomenon in which people succumb to hysterical convulsions. His followers did that at Brownsville. It was at HTB that Hill was to receive the "impartation" that he'd transmit to the BAG church, which would become the basis for the "Pensacola Revival." Hill had first read about HTB in an article in Time magazine titled Laughing for the Lord, August 15, 1994. Hill said in an interview with Don Nori in the Destiny Image Digest, "We've received a lot from the Toronto church on how to pray with people and care for folks. We model a lot of what's going on here from them." Hill had been to Toronto to receive the "anointing." But sought another anointing in a Anglican church in England, Holy Trinity Brompton. Hill's recounts how he received the "impartation" at HTB. Reading the Time magazine article titled Laughing for the Lord, August 15, 1994 lit something in him. He asked his hosts, "Where is the Holy Ghost moving in England?" His hosts were members of HTB and loaded him down with literature concerning the "revival." Hill began to read, "testimony after testimony" of lives changed and of faith renewed, his hunger increased, and he made an appointment with the pastor of HTB, Sandy Millar. Hill arrived at the church during the prayer meeting, amazed at the sight of it: "I stepped over bodies to get to the pastor. When Sandy touched me, I fell to the ground . . . I was like a kid at Toys-R-Us . . . Then, I got up and ran to a couple and said, 'Pray for me, man, this is good!' They touched me and WHAM! I went back down. Some of you, God is going to hit in a 9
powerful way. If you are hungry, get prayed for a dozen times." (From the Father's Day video, June, 1995.) I guess if it doesn't work the first time be opened to eleven more. Pensacola has become famous for its palsied "chicken walk," or shake, jerk and fall manifestations. Even the prayer teams themselves were manifesting some form of the jerks, twitches. Brenda explains one of those 'wonderful things' - being frozen in one position for over two hours! like Toronto they claim it was a spontaneous outpouring, just like Toronto they are frozen (which all comes from Rodney Browne). One is given the notion that, "Suddenly, like a rushing mighty wind," the Spirit blew in on an unsuspecting Pentecostal church taking them by surprise, hitting the pastor in the back of his legs and knocking him over. But there was an anticipation that something was definitely going to happen. [Brenda explains] 'We had a friend named Steve Hill . . . He called us about his impartation that he had received from England. He was just on fire with a new anointing of what God had given him. We were so excited and said, 'Maybe this will bring revival when Steve comes . . . '" Rev. Kilpatricks statements reveal the his understanding of this move, "THIS IS NOT A PREACHING REVIVAL," (Rev. John Kilpatrick Leadership Meeting Oct. 1996, Kerrville, Texas) If not preaching then what? "So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." (Rom. 10:17) Peter preached the Word, three thousand were added that day. We are told to preach the word, we are sent to preach, not to make them twitch and shake. But he is right it is not a preaching revival in the same way Toronto was not either. Evangelist Steve Hill, a Pensacola's Brownsville Assembly of God, interviewed on TV's "20/20," explains his experience "I didn't believe in God, but...out of desperation...I said, 'Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.' I just began to say that name, and a power came through my body...." This same chant is seen at the services invoking Jesus. This is how he was born again, a highly unusual and non biblical way. Well the church of Witness Lee (local church) does the same thing, just chant Jesus. The more you say his name the more power of his presence is there. 10
Steve Hill enthusiastically moving from one seeker to another at Brownesville touching the middle forehead yelling, "More, Lord!" this is thee same same as Toronto The result is always the same-the spirit is imparted and it causes seekers to shake, laugh, roar, fall out, etc. all the same things at Toronto. Hill chants the name," 'Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!' A peace, a warmth such as I never felt before, flooded my body. This power rushed in like a river and took command of everything. I kept crying out His name, louder and louder: 'Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!' The more I said it, the greater was my deliverance."( Hill, The Pursuit of Revival, 30. ) This is what the cults do to beckon the spirit to manifest. The repetition of words over and over is a New Age occultic technique called a mantra. as Hindu mantras "Aum" or "Hare Krishna"-invoke a spirit. The Gnostics said iii eee oooo and other such syllables to invoke the power. When a willing subject is found in a passive state and a mantra is repeated, a demonic power overcomes the speaker. This is exactly how Hill describes his conversion! Where in the Scripture does it instruct someone to do such a thing? Hill does the same , repeating "More, Lord!," and "Fire! Fire! Fire!," to summon and pass on the spirit at the Brownsville "revival." For instance, the Brownsville prayer team, the group that prays for people at Hill's altar calls, is instructed to impart the spirit only by touch and the repetition of words (cliche's). Dr. Herb Babcock, former prayer team member explains, "While on the prayer team, we were instructed to NOT pray in Jesus' name. We were told to NOT pray for the needs of people. The only thing we were to do was touch people on their forehead and say, "More, Lord!" and keep repeating that until there was an "impartation" of the spirit being promoted in these meetings." Babcock continues, "If the person did not respond in a reasonable time, move on to someone else. Any deviation from the limited procedure would result in being removed from the prayer team, which did happen to a few individuals." ( Dr. Herb Babcock, "That's How They Do It In Toronto!," The End-Times and Victorious Living, Vol. 11, No. 2, March/April 1997, 18.) This is exactly what Rodney Browne states! Fill , fill, there it is , the fire etc.. Coincidence, not really. Hill has stated in rebuttal to his critics, "The second mark of a God mocker is a fear of confrontation and change. They are so stuck in religious tradition that they are closed to new revelation. ... (How anyone can come 11
into a revival meeting in Brownsville and fail to feel Jesus is beyond me! I can't imagine it.)" (Stephen Hill, The God Mockers, chapter 1) This is similar again to what Browne states to his critics. "Pharisees, Saducees. wouldn't sees."..."You can't understand what God is doing in these meetings with an analytical mind,' he says. 'The only way you're going to understand what God is doing is with your heart." (Holy Laughter, Albert James Dager, 1996) In 1996 Steve Gray of Smithon Missouri went with is wife to visit Pensacola. He states he went not to get something but to see "as Moses went to o see the burning bush." While he may admit he went not to get "it' he certainly believed it was God he went to see, as the analogy tells all. After the revival services he says that God spoke saying "he wanted you to have revival." This again shows me that this is man centered, because God would never say such a thing since it is by his spirit alone that revival comes from. He never tells anyone to 'have a revival" but to repent and from this attitude he may or may not send one. Steve was depressed and couldn't fathom the thought But God told him,"I didn't say I want you to be a revival. I said I want you to have a revival." When he got back to his Church on the 2nd night God poured out his power, healing and restoration on the entire congregation. he describes "the air felt like a waterfall flowing with waves and waves of the glorious river of God. So was born the Smithton outpouring. There have been over 200,000 people from all over the world that have visited since Mar. of 1996. Now where is the tie in besides Toronto look at what Pastor Kilpatrick says, "Brother Kenneth Hagin and Brother Kenneth Copeland have done an excellent job along with others on teaching us about the authority of the believer." (Glory on Your House , John Kilpatrick) Where does the source come from? The common denominator is traced to the word faith movement. Hagin, Copeland, Hinn. Personally I would like to believe this is genuine but when one knows of the trail that this all came from, how can something that came from Pensacola, that came from Toronto and came from Copeland, Hagin, Rodney Browne via Benny Hinn and even further back into the Latter Rain be authentic? Well this has been quite a ride (though a short one) of tracking the spirit manifestations from its infancy to its current teenage state. As it spreads further it will mature into its real purpose. 12
The teaching of anointed ones who dispense the "it". This spirit is localized and transferable from Benny Hinn, Rodney Browne, and Toronto. Go to Toronto, Brownsville to "receive a fresh touch from God." But you cannot receive this spirit unless someone that already has received it, gives it to you. These are pilgrimages to "power centers" (anointing) where the spirit is in manifesting is exactly what Jesus warned about in MT.24 "When they say to you, 'Look here is Christ or there he is' go not after them . . . "(the newest one is to TB Joshua in Nigeria) It is not, "Look here is Jesus," but "Look here is Christ." The word "Christ" means " anointed one." They go to Toronto or Pensacola for "the anointing" from an anointed one, not for the teaching of Jesus. In fact most of the people participating in these spiritual movements care little for teaching- they are there for an experience. There are testimonies of a experience but How does God authentically change a life? The new model says that God changes people by "zapping them" and they have an immediate experience, he operates on them, they feel him. There is no such thing as this in Scripture except for the immediate born again experience of salvation. And more often than not people will not feel a thing. Constantly the people are sent messages like "Some of you are going to feel a heavy sensation in your arms and legs. That's God. You're going to fall down, or you will feel numb and can't move. Others are going to feel heat, or electricity and some of you will start to laugh or cry." This is sensual feelings from the outside, true spiritual activity is from within if one possesses the new nature. this is no different than what the gurus gave to their devotees in shakti-pat. We should be careful not to confuse the sensual with true spirituality. Certainly there are times God can be felt but feelings are to be ruled by the spirit of self control, which demonstrates true spirituality. One need not wonder what needs to take place for the church to be removed from the faith. Something must come to undermine the peoples objective discernment by either replacing it or changing it. Feelings and experience are a hard taskmaster to live by. Jude whose book is about contending for the faith and apostates in the Church warns us of those who are " sensual persons." they cause divisions (heresies) not having the Spirit. Those who do not have the spirit or are not having him work by them will often do gyrations to convince themselves and others they do! 13
I watched a baptism conducted at Pensacola on video and some people go wild, thrashing and fighting as they are dunked. They look like they need deliverance instead of officiating a welcome into the body of Christ. I thought baptism was to illustrate the old person is dead, in these they ( the old nature) becomes more alive. Hill has said, "I've come home with wounds and bruises all over my body, friend. This is revival!" Power and activity = God, is a dangerous road to travel on. Today's revival is filled with dumbfoundedness, collapsing (slain), stammering, slamming, paralysis all kinds of acts of violence and one can act like a looney bird and blame it all on the Spirit. (just look at the Toronto video of John Scotland drunk and singing I shot the Sheriff to see the hard truth). As of late Pensacola is now defunct as Steve Hill, Michael Browne and Kilpatrick have gone each their own ways and not peaceably. I guess you can sum it all up by the new wine turning to sour grapes NOT INTEGRITY http://www.scribd.com/doc/57446225/
John Kilpatrick appeared on the Jim Bakker program. Two frauds for the price of one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AliiQpg2Rk
Official Brownsville Response To Pensacola News Journal Articles
Following is the official response from Brownsville A/G Church in Pensacola, FL regarding the Gannett news stories in the Pensacola News Journal. It is apparent from their response that some of the information reported by PNJ was inaccurate and biased. However, it is also clear that Brownsville is still disseminating false information of their own. We have highlighted the responses we feel are disingenuous, if not a continuation of lies and deceit. We would like to remind the leaders of Brownsville A/G Church of the verse in 2 Cor. 4:2 "Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." When a secular news organization gets some of its facts wrong or uses deception that should not be a licence for Christians to respond in kind. We are supposed to be the light and salt of the earth.
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NOVEMBER 22, THE RESPONSE This is the response to News Journal and the Associated Press
THE FACTS OF THE BROWNSVILLE REVIVAL
STEVE HILLS TESTIMONY TRUE AND ACCURATE
CHURCHS FINANCES CONDUCTED WITH COMPLETE INTEGRITY
REVIVALS CLAIMS NOT EXAGGERATED
THE FACTS OF THE BROWNSVILLE REVIVAL
This past week, the Pensacola News Journal ran a five-part series alleging serious financial irregularities and fabrications in the Brownsville Revival. While we do not know the motivation of the Journal in running this series, we are troubled by their misquotes, serious misrepresentation of facts, and misleading innuendoes. In order to present an accurate picture of the revival, we have provided the following facts, offering corrections to some of the Journals many reporting errors. While we do not claim that the revival or its leaders are perfect, we are confident that the revival and its related ministries have been conducted with complete integrity and high ethical principles, and we welcome the careful scrutiny of the Christian and non-Christian public. In the interest of the reputation of the gospel and the revival, we present the following information, asking the reader to remember that this represents only a sampling of the numerous corrections that could be made. To quote the Journal (November, 20, 1997, 18A), "If you give people information, they can make up their own minds."
FACT: John Kilpatricks salary and housing package from Brownsville Assembly of God is $73,600, plus utilities, health insurance, and retirement contributions. Pastor Kilpatrick would have been more forthcoming with the Journal regarding personal finances if not for the accusatory attitude with which he was approached. 1 FACT: When Reverend David Wilkerson, the founder of Teen Challenge who has known Steve Hill for more than 20 years, learned that the Journal was accusing Steve Hill of being a phony who falsified his testimony, he immediately responded with this letter dated November 19, 1997: "To Whom It May Concern: Steve Hill was a debilitated, stoned addict when he first surrendered his life to Christ. He became an active worker with our ministry, helping rescue other addicts and alcoholics. Though many of his old friends had died, he related well to the street addicts, having been a drug pusher and having spent time in jail. Steve graduated from our Bible school in Texas. He has always been diligent and faithful. His story of deliverance from drug addiction and crime is a true testimony to the power of the gospel of Christ. One thing I know for sure Steve Hill is not a phony!" 15
FACT: Although Pastor Kilpatricks non-profit corporation, Feast of Fire Ministries, received $798,000 in book sales, royalties (which are payable to the ministry, not directly to Pastor Kilpatrick), and honorariums through October 9 of this year, by the directive of the Feast of Fire board, he will not receive more than $100,000 in annual income from that ministry. FACT: Pastor Kilpatrick does not and has never owned a Rolex watch, contrary to the Journals claims. The diamond ring he wears cost $382 and was purchased for him by his wife Brenda as a gift for their 29th anniversary. FACT: Rather than the church becoming rich through the revival or hoarding its resources and neglecting missions, as suggested by the Journal, it has expended itself sacrificially in order to host the revival and its guests including missionaries, struggling pastors, and lost sinners from around the world. 2 The church staff has expanded from 23 to 110; custodial supplies have gone from $600 a month to $3500 or more monthly; security, which in the past was unnecessary, now amounts to more than $19,000 monthly all to watch over the cars and property of those attending the revival. Whereas before the revival, there was no need for paid nursery workers during the week, the nursery worker budget averages $10,000-12,000 a month all to take care of the babies and small children of the guests of the revival. Such expenses could be multiplied almost ad infinitum (e.g., just cleaning the church carpets now amounts to $4,500 monthly), but this sampling is sufficient to indicate the enormous cost involved in hosting this revival, a huge missions project in itself. FACT: Neither the church nor any of the ministries were approached by the Journal to supply detailed financial information before last month, although the Journal states that it was investigating the revival for the past four and a half months. Facts and figures that presented a positive picture of the churchs benevolent giving were either overlooked or downplayed by the Journal. FACT: Because Pastor Kilpatrick does not fly, Feast of Fire Ministries purchased a 1994 coach (with a Detroit Diesel engine capable of running one million miles) in which he travels and works while speaking across the country. This coach cannot be used for any personal travel or recreation, and it has already saved approximately $40,000 in airfare since its purchase. Should the ministry cease to exist for any reason, this coach, along with all other assets of Feast of Fire Ministries, will be given to the church, not Pastor Kilpatrick or his family. FACT: After living in the same house for 14 years, Pastor Kilpatrick moved to Alabama for privacys sake. He would have stayed in his present home if not for recurring invasions of his privacy. His new house, which should cost approximately $270,000 upon completion, is being financed on the basis of his church and outside ministry salary, and not a dime of the construction cost is being funded through the nightly revival offerings. 3 Note also that the square footage of heated and air- conditioned living space in his new home totals 3543 square feet, not the 5557 square feet reported in the Journal, and contrary to any impression that may have been given to the readers, Pastor Kilpatrick does not simultaneously own three houses. FACT: Although offerings are received in the five weekly services in Brownsville, 16
there is not a suggested nightly donation, as repeatedly claimed by the Journal. The only exception has come during the Friday night missions offering, when it has sometimes been suggested that those who can contribute $100 to Together in the Harvests missions projects would consider doing so (although this practice has recently been discontinued). Those visiting the services know that very little emphasis is put on money each week, and revival attendees are instructed not to put their tithes, which belong in their home church, in the revival offerings. FACT: Brownsville Assembly of God has never once made a financial appeal during eleven years of weekly TV broadcasting. This is because fund-raising has never been the churchs goal. Earlier this year, the revival was offered free air time on national Christian TV, with a personal 800 number to be supplied as well, but this offer was refused by the leaders despite the fact that it could have generated millions of dollars in income. FACT: At no time did Steve Hill falsify his testimony, nor did he ever admit to such a claim. In point of fact, there are numerous witnesses (including Steves own mother and family members) who have corroborated the details of his life story and conversion. However, the Journal chose not to print any of the evidence presented to them, including written corroborating testimony from the man who broke into the Madison, Alabama pharmacy with Steve. FACT: Stone Cold Heart is a 56 page mini-book containing a synopsis of 25 years of Steve Hills life and is, quite obviously, not intended to be exhaustive. The only "fictionalizing" of any kind in the book is that the names of some characters have been changed to protect their identity and safeguard them from unwarranted intrusion and embarrassment regarding the life they left behind over 20 years ago. This, of course, is commonly done in biographical writing, and all details of the book are completely true and accurate. FACT: Contrary to the implication of the Journal, Steve Hill never claimed to have been arrested 13 times in Huntsville, Alabama from 1972-1975 but rather said that he was arrested a total of 13 times in different parts of the United States during those years. Some of these arrests were with companions who have testified to the validity of the accounts as given by Steve, but the Journal did not contact these sources. It should also be noted that Federal Law ordered the destruction of arrest records for various minor offenses for those born before 1955, a fact which the Journal also ignored. FACT: Although the Journal claimed that Steve Hill did not sponsor a table at the Teen Challenge meeting in Pensacola this year, in point of fact, he sent $1000 to the meeting (the equivalent of sponsoring eight tables), and contributes $1000 a month to the local Teen Challenge branch. FACT: As of November 18, 1997, Together in the Harvests year-to-date contributions to Teen Challenge world wide amounted to $80,021 (and are verified by receipts received from Teen Challenge), while additional foreign missions contributions came to $203,656 and home missions and benevolence totaled an additional $320,000, making a grand total of charitable contributions of more than $600,000, 17
equaling more than 25% of Together in the Harvests gross income. The reason some of this data is not individually broken down and categorized on the IRS return is that Together in the Harvests bookkeeper groups much of it together under charitable giving, although Together in the Harvests financial records do, of course, detail each and every one of these charitable and missions transactions. FACT: Steve Hill immediately gave the Journal a complete financial disclosure on October 4, 1997. A breakdown of his finances for the last twelve months indicates that his ministrys charitable giving came to more than six times the amount of his personal salary package, a fact not noted by the Journal. (His wife Jeri does not receive any salary from the ministry, contrary to the implication of the Journal.) FACT: Steve Hill offered to fly the Journals correspondents to his various missions projects anywhere in the world for their personal inspection, but they declined the offer. The one orphanage in Argentina contacted by the Journal was aided by Steves ministry when it was founded but has long since become funded by the government. FACT: Alleged discrepancies between the IRS filings and Steves financial disclosure are simply due to the fact that the IRS figures are for the calendar year of 1996 (with charitable giving totaling $298,085), while his disclosure to the Journal was for August, 1996 to August, 1997 (with charitable giving totaling $639,384). The Journals presentation of these two reports side by side, without any clarification, was highly misleading. FACT: Those responding to the altar calls in the revival are urged to destroy any pornographic magazines or videos they own, to flush their alcoholic beverages or illicit drugs down the toilet, and to throw out articles of jewelry or memorabilia they were given during adulterous or sinful relationships. They are not told to turn such items into the church, as implied by the Journal, and the few articles of jewelry that have been turned in will be sold and the funds put into the church building fund. 4 FACT: Before the revival, the Brownsville Assembly of God gave approximately 12% of its income to missions and benevolence. Since the outbreak of the revival, the church has continued to keep its previous missions commitments but has added a weekly missions offering taken up for Together in the Harvest. (After this missions offering is counted, it is regularly supplemented by Brownsville.) Thus, when the funds given to Together in the Harvest are included, the church gave almost 18% to outreach and missions in 1996 ($1,179,926 out of $6,563,783). FACT: The Journal frequently lifted quotes completely out of context in order to give a false impression to the readers. To give just one example out of many, Pastor Carey Robertson is quoted as saying, "If you wonder where the money is going, then dont give. . . . Once it becomes a gift, it is ours to use. It is nobodys business how we use it." In context, he was explaining to the Journals correspondents that, whereas a member of Brownsville has the right to examine the churchs financial books, the fact that a visitor puts $25 in the offering does not therefore give him the right to examine the churchs financial records. Also, as is the universal custom in churches around the nation, when undesignated funds are put into an offering, it is up to the discretion of the church to expend those funds responsibly, whether it be to pay nursery workers or 18
buy bathroom supplies. This was also part of Pastor Robertsons intent. 5 Unfortunately, it does not appear that the Journals intent was to present a full and clear picture, but rather to give the appearance of a scandal. Similar examples of other misquotes or quotes taken completely out of context could be multiplied, and numerous sources quoted by the Journal, including those involved with the revival and those unrelated to the revival, have expressed to us their outrage, shock, and dismay at the misrepresentation of their words in the Journal. FACT: At no time did any of the revival ministries knowingly violate the relevant state tax laws, as inferred by the Journal. To the contrary, in spite of extensive investigation by accountants and legal representatives for the ministries, the Department of Revenue of the State of Florida gave varying responses as to the necessity of collecting sales tax on ministry items sold within the church. As soon as a definitive ruling was passed on to each of the ministries, they immediately took steps to begin collecting and paying the appropriate sales taxes and will pay all taxes retroactively due. FACT: Not one of the Brownsville revival leaders has received any financial remuneration from Awake America for participating in these national conferences, although it would have been completely appropriate for them to have done so. However, because the cost of holding these rallies has been astronomical, the leaders agreed to receive no honorariums from Awake America. While ministry books and tapes have been sold at these events and travel expenses have been reimbursed, no honorariums from Awake America have been taken by any of the leaders. FACT: Since the revival began in the Brownsville Assembly of God, less than 150 previous members have cancelled or moved their membership, while 1530 new members have been added. Of those members who were in the church for 25 or more years, none of them have left because of the revival, and only 4 officials out of 27 have left the church since the revival began. Simply stated, there has not been a mass exodus of members, contrary to allegations made by anonymous former members in the Journal. 6 FACT: Dr. Michael L. Brown immediately provided the Journal with his salary and benefits package when asked to do so on October 24th (they were informed that it totaled well under $100,000). Contrary to the Journals claim that he would not provide a financial statement, his office made extensive efforts to supply all information requested, but the Journal went to press shortly before the financial reports were reviewed by accountants and approved as accurate for release. To date, he has received no salary from the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry, although he serves as the schools President and as a faculty member, and all royalties from any of his nine books are paid directly to ICN Ministries and do not accrue personally to him. FACT: In spite of the fact that the tuition costs for the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry are among the lowest nationally and its operating budget negligible (the figure of $604,500 given by the Journal referred to the schools total income, not profit!), the school also granted $65,000 in scholarships to needy students. As for the student body, 170 of the schools 510 students are 25 or older (including 81 who are 30 or 19
older), while 66 have already earned college or graduate degrees. Approximately 140 students were saved through the revival, while 118 testify to being set free from life- controlling addictions. FACT: Of the four non-profit corporations allegedly formed since the revival began, two of them (viz., Together in the Harvest and ICN) were already operating as international ministries prior to the beginning of the revival. The other two (viz., MMI and Feast of Fire) were formed so that profits from sales of books and tapes would not accrue exclusively to the individual authors or song writers but rather would also benefit a non-profit corporation for further ministry purposes. All four of these ministries are in the process of filing with the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and had ordered applications months before the Journal began its investigation. 7 FACT: The revival has been subject to careful theological scrutiny, and its soundness has been recognized by biblical scholars and theologians from leading universities and seminaries. 8In fact, Professor Vinson Synan, a leading Pentecostal historian and the Dean of the Regent University School of Divinity, has called it "the largest local church revival in the history of America," writing that, "Brownsville, with its emphasis on conversion and people weeping over conviction of sin, seems to be a revival in the long tradition of American native revivals dating back to the preaching of Jonathan Edwards. Theres heavy preaching on sin, repentance, conversion, and holiness. And theres a lot more weeping and wailing over sin than there are the so- called exotic manifestations." 9 FACT: At no time did the Journal raise the issue of so-called doctrinal improprieties or unusual manifestations to any of the revival leaders, nor were any of the leaders asked to respond to such questions, with the exception of one peripheral question put to Pastor Kilpatrick by one reporter (although his response was not printed). Thus, the Journal chose to give the general public no opportunity to hear a sound, biblical refutation of the charges raised, although it can easily be demonstrated that the emphasis of the revival conforms completely to biblical and historic norms. 10 FACT: Of the pastors and teachers cited in criticism of the revival, some of them (e.g., Mr. Al Dager) have never attended a single meeting in the revival, while another, Mr. Matt Costella, is a seminary student, as opposed to being a recognized authority, biblical scholar, or theologian. For an exhaustive refutation of recent theological and doctrinal criticisms of the revival, the interested reader may consult Dr. Michael L. Browns recent volume, Let No One Deceive You: Confronting the Critics of Revival. 11 FACT: We first learned about the reduction in juvenile crime in Escambia County from the Journal itself! On January 3, 1997, the Journal ran a front page article compiled by staff writer Ginny Graybiel, proudly announcing that, whereas juvenile crime over the previous fiscal year had risen state-wide by 1%, it dropped by 13% in Escambia County, the first county-wide drop in five years. Now the Journal claims that the juvenile crime rate rose, the exact opposite of its earlier, detailed report. FACT: Mr. Nathan Epps from the Bureau of Data and Research for the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, provided revival leaders with the following crime 20
statistics, drawn from 700 pages of information: The 1993-94 juvenile crime rate in Escambia County rose 5.15%; in 1994-95 it rose 17.43%; in 1995-96 it dropped 12.8%; in 1996-97 it dropped an additional 4.53%. Furthermore, using Apopka County, Florida as a point of random comparison, it can be seen that the juvenile crime rate in Apopka rose by .22% in 1995-96 and in 1996-97 dropped by .74%. When one considers that attendance throughout Escambia County at See You At the Pole, the early morning, student prayer gathering held in September of each year rose from less than 500 in 1995 to more than 2100 in 1996 and 1997, such juvenile crime reduction statistics are no surprise. FACT: According to a broadcast aired by Ch. 3 News on September 23, 1997, the overall crime rate in Escambia County dropped by 16% in the first six months of 1997 as compared with the same period in 1996. FACT: When Rev. Ken Landon, a counselor at the Waterfront Rescue Mission and New Hope Homes in Gulf Breeze, learned that some sources were questioning the impact of the revival on local drug addicts and alcoholics, he informed us that his own mission alone had baptized more than 120 of its clients in the revival over the last year including former crack addicts, alcoholics, repeat offenders, homeless people, violent bikers, and abused women and less than 10 of those 120 have fallen away. FACT: Our primary source for the positive economic impact that the revival has had on the community was the glowing article published by the Journal on Fathers Day, 1997, and it was the Journal article that we sometimes cited for this information. Now the Journal claims that the revival has been more of an economic drain. Moreover, the Journal chose to ignore data pointing to the positive impact the revival has had on real estate transactions. FACT: On July 11, 1997, the Journal printed a special, 40 page mini-paper on the revival, paid for by area businesses, and filled with ads from local hotels, restaurants, and vendors. 50,000 copies of this mini-paper were produced by the Journal and were then given to Brownsville with the express request that they be handed out to revival attendees waiting on line. In fact, in that report (p. 19), the Journal quoted Sheriff Jim Lowman as seeing the revival as "nothing but a positive influence in the community," adding, "I just wish people who are going to break the law would go to the church service instead." FACT: According to the Journals own reporting in the just cited special 40 page report (p. 19), "Although the revival has critics who describe uninhibited religious demonstrations as mass manipulation, the loudest complaints come from area businesses lamenting the loss of customers when the revival has taken a break for a few days." FACT: Rather than relocating to a more upscale neighborhood, Brownsville Assembly of God chose many years ago to remain in the Brownsville area. At present, it is investing considerable time and resources to reach out to the Brownsville neighborhood in a tangible and loving way. (Contrary to the Journals claims, this service was begun by Brownsville members and is financed by the church.) For example, in the last six months, every home in the community north of Cervantes St.-- 21
Mobile Hwy. received a personal visit from Brownsville workers (although some were not at home at the time of the initial visit), and benevolence extended to various families included food, clothing, house repairs, and cutting grass. Moreover, every individual reached was given a ticket enabling them to attend the revival without having to wait in line. 12 FACT: All real estate purchased by the Brownsville Assembly of God in the local community has been purchased at a price above the appraised value in order to insure that no one would feel that the church was taking advantage of them. In fact, the cost of buying properties surrounding the church has escalated drastically, to the direct benefit of the local property owners. FACT: Steve Hills statement that Jesus was crucified naked thereby experiencing humiliation on our behalf is supported by Scripture (see, e.g., John 19:23-25), reflects the Roman custom of the day (according to the Jewish scholar, S. T. Lachs, "The condemned were crucified naked, and the executioners were allowed to divide their clothing and property among them"), is attested to by the second-century Church Father Melito of Sardis ("The Master has been treated in unseemly fashion, his body naked, and not even deemed worthy of a covering that [his nakedness] might not be seen"), and represents the majority view of scholars. Thus, Steve is completely correct in stating that "most theologians believe that Jesus was crucified naked." Even the beloved commentator Matthew Henry drew attention to, "The shame they put upon our Lord Jesus, in stripping him of his garments before they crucified him. The shame of nakedness came in with sin. He therefore who was made sin for us bore that shame, to roll away our reproach. He was stripped, that we might be clothed with white raiment (Rev. 3:18), and that when we are unclothed we may not be found naked." It should be noted, however, that Steves preaching emphasis is on the fact that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead, not on the fact that He was crucified naked. 13 It is the critics who majored on that. FACT: While sexual sin is explicitly preached against in the revival following the example of Scripture (see, e.g, Prov. 5:1-32; 7:1-27; Matt. 5:27-30; Eph. 5:1-6) there is no sexual fixation of any kind in the meetings, as unfortunately stated in the Journal. Rather, the emphasis is on holiness. Anyone questioning this can readily view or listen to hundreds of hours of preaching and teaching in the revival services as recorded on video or audio tape. 14 FACT: The ministry practices of Brownsville are consistently misrepresented. To cite just two examples, prayer team members use the name of Jesus every night (as opposed to the Journals odd allegation that they are forbidden to pray in Jesus name), while these lay workers are specifically instructed not to call out, "Fire! Fire!" while praying, although the Journal stated the exact opposite. 15 FACT: While we recognize that Christians hold to many varied views concerning divine healing, and while we have not made physical healing a major emphasis in the revival, 16on numerous occasions revival attendees have publicly testified to being miraculously healed by God during the meetings, sometimes holding x-rays and other medical documentation to verify their stories. While we are aware that many godly 22
Christians remain sick or disabled, never receiving physical healing in this life, we rejoice with those people Christian and non-Christian alike who have been healed, and we hope that others too would also rejoice on their behalf. FACT: Although the Journal strongly suggested that Steve Hill secretly planned on sparking a long-term revival when he came to speak in Brownsville in June, 1995, he was actually scheduled to hold major rallies in Belarus in the former Soviet Union later that month and had gone through considerable effort in planning and promoting those rallies. Because of the spontaneous outbreak of the revival, he was ultimately forced to cancel the Belarus meetings, although two of his staff members were already there preparing for the rallies and expecting his imminent arrival. 17 FACT: The Journals version of the events leading up to the revival is riddled with inaccuracies and misstatements. For example, the practitioners of so-called holy laughter who were at Brownsville about one year prior to the revival were expelled from the church by Pastor Kilpatrick for disorderly and disruptive behavior after he expressly forbade them from praying over any of the Brownsville congregants.18Moreover, the group that was expelled was not part of Rodney Howard-Brownes ministry. (To date, Howard-Browne has never visited the revival. 19) Even Steve Hills quote, "Now if someone falls next to you, work with me, OK? Just work with me,"20 indicates that nothing was pre-planned, since there were no "catchers" waiting for people to fall, and Steve was saying, "Please help catch the person next to you if they fall under the power of God!" FACT: The heaven-sent nature of the revival is attested to by more than 1200 Brownsville congregants who were there on Fathers Day, 1995 and by multiplied tens of thousands who have attended the meetings since. 21 Not one single aspect of the revival was planned out in advance, nor could any facet of a revival of this magnitude possibly have been orchestrated or staged. All credit for the revival must go to God, who graciously answered more than two years of corporate prayer for revival by the members of Brownsville Assembly of God. FACT: While it is undoubtedly true that in the revival, just as in every local church, some of the converts have fallen away, we have countless hundreds of testimonies on file from the local area and around the world coming from pastors, church members, and families of converted sinners, attesting to the radical changes that have taken place in their congregations or individual lives through the revival. We give all the glory to the Lord Jesus and believe that the best is yet to come. It is time for revival to spread throughout the land! 22
Although we are grieved by the misinformation, poor reporting, and scurrilous nature of the Pensacola News Journalsseries on the Brownsville Revival, we nonetheless want to bless them, and we ask the Lord to pour out His grace on all the correspondents who worked on this series of articles, wishing the Journal and its readers a blessed holiday season and New Year. We also want to take this opportunity to thank the greater Pensacola community for being such gracious hosts to the more than 1.9 million guests of the revival who have come for spiritual refreshing from more than 23
100 nations and from every state in the Union. We look forward to a wonderful year of revival in 1998!
Here is our response to the Brownsville response to the PNJ articles.
1 - Church leaders should ALWAYS be forthcoming with the public on financial matters, "accusatory" or not. This has not been a characteristic of some A/G churches and should be. They should also be giving regular detailed financial reports to their membership, as do most upstanding Christian denominations.
2 - When a church like Brownsville is taking in as much money as it is from non- members, it should not complain about increased costs of running meetings and facilities. It smells like an excuse to try to draw attention away from the fact that they are raking in millions of dollars every year and not having to account for what they are doing with it to anyone outside thier church board.
3 - This cannot be true, since Kilpatrick's salary comes from the church, so one hand feeds the other. The fact of the matter is that Kilpatrick would not have been able to build a nice new big house without the "revival" he told his church they were going to have "or else".
4 - So they are, in fact, taking jewelry that they told people to get rid of and somehow ended up in their possession, and consequently selling the items to bring in more money for the church. This is exactly what PNJ said in the first place.
5 - Again, church finances should be open and honest to all, especially when they are making money under a non-profit status. The fact that they are still not members of the ECFA should tell people that they have something to hide. When the world thinks the Christian church has something to hide, the truth is brought into disrepute and the gospel message preached in vain. These "revivals", as well as many television evangelist organizations, are lining their pockets at the expense of the saving gospel message. Paul warned Timothy of these men when he said: "If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is A MEANS TO FINANCIAL GAIN." (1 Tim. 6:3-5)
6 - At the beginning of the "revival" when most of the "less than 150 previous members" left, it could well have been categorized as a "mass exodus" taking into account the number of people in membership at that time. We also understand that this number included church leadership as well. 24
7 - This seems like a "day late and a dollar short". The "revival" has supposedly been going on since Father's Day 1995. Why couldn't they have filed with the ECFA during the two and a half years when they began to see large sums of money floating around? But the real question is, with a fair sized church like Brownsville A/G, why didn't they file with the ECFA years earlier? Will they do a "CNN/Benny Hinn" later and fail to file with ECFA? Let's watch and see!
8 - Conveniently missing here is any mention of countless "biblical scholars and theologians" from virtually every denomination and walk of life that have written piles of articles and made many statements to the fact that the Brownsville "Revival" is a counterfeit revival that is continuing to foster a false anointing handed down from the Toronto "Blessing", Rodney Howard-Browne, Benny Hinn and many other widely recognized false teachers.
9 - Preaching of the whole gospel, especially including the elements of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and our justification by his death and blood alone which paid the death penalty of sin that we live under, is rarely heard. Steve Hill's "gospel" is a "repent, say 'Jesus, Jesus, Jesus', and come running to the 'Mercy Seat' to receive the 'anointing'". This is not the classic gospel message of Scripture and therefore cannot save those who beleive it. Also, if you have ever watched a full service from Brownsville A/G (not recommended for the squeemish) you will see clearly that, along with some weeping, there are PLENTY of weird manifestations as well as weird noises. Jonathan Edwards would have been appalled at what he saw at Brownsville A/G today!
10 - It is not the job of a secular newspaper to bring up theological issues, nor are they qualified to discuss them. However, to say that it "can easily be demonstrated that the emphasis of the revival conforms completely to biblical and historic norms" regarding the bizzare and unbiblical "manifestations" rather demonstrates wishful thinking on the part of Brownsville leadership. If they ever were willing to even listen to what orthodox Christianity is saying about their "revival" or enter any real public debate on the theological issues, instead of heaping curses and insults on anyone who disagrees with them, they would find out that they are the one who are out of touch with Biblical principles by a long shot!
11 - And to put this article in its proper light, you might want to read an article called "Accusers of the Brethren or Good Bereans?" by Debra Bouey at http://www.geocities.com/Bob_Hunter/accusers1.htmThis article details the many, many slanderous accustations made by Brown in his booklet against ANYONE who disagrees with what Brownsville is doing. Brown does this in the face of the Scriptural mandate by Paul to be "good Bereans" as well as test the spirits. This article also includes the same kinds of slanderous and lying accusation by Steve Hill from his gem of a book "The God Mockers". 25
12 - I think this statement kind of says it all. Does the word "circus" come to mind? Has Christianity degenerated into having to sell tickets to worship together as Christians? This is another good example of why I am telling people not to go to these big circus events anymore. Stay in your home community and church and do evangelistic outreach there; witness to your neighbors and provide for the hurting and the misfortunate. There is no need to travel to some "revival" and get a jolt from the laying on of hands. If you are a Christian you already have the Holy Spirit indwelling, and as you continue to be repentant and remain humble, serving the Lord, he will bring "times of refreshing".
13 - The fact is, Steve Hill rarely mentions the death and resurrection of Christ in his "gospel" message. Why is it that modern preachers in these "revivals" must find more and more sensationalistic ways to present the "gospel"? Is it because they do not realize that the power is not in the "slain in the spirit" experience or the "signs and wonders" but that "the GOSPEL ... is the POWER of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."
14 - The true emphasis is on sensual experiential spirituality, as evidenced by watching hours of video tape from Brownsville A/G that they produced. Comparisons to Hindu kundalini rituals, whirling dervishes, Rajneeshees, and other occult groups are readily apparent. This type of activity eventually leads to all kinds of fleshly sin problems, one of which is sexual fixation. This has been evidenced over and over again in churches and by leaders who make subjective experiences the yardstick by which they live their life and formulate their doctrine.
15 - Why then does Steve Hill call out "Fire, Fire" when he is laying hands on people? Yes, the name is Jesus is used, that is true. The fact is, it is used just like a mantra, repeated over and over again until people get mind-numbed enough to accept the "impartation". Other words are also used such as "holy ... more ... worthy ... Holy Ghost" etc., in the same manner. Even the music is repeated endlessly.
16 - They say they have not made it an emphasis then in the next sentence they say "on numerous occasions". It is hard to imagine that a meeting goes by without some "miraculous" healing testimony. This statement is simply untrue.
17 - This statement is a clever way to get people's eyes off the truth. The truth still remains that Steve Hill manipulated the "revival" from the outset, just like the Toronto "Blessing" meetings are carefully crafted where Hill got his "impartation". With a lot of manipulation and pleading from the stage, Steve Hill managed to get some people to come forward and receive the "impartation" he was offering, even though it was clearly evident from the video tape the many people in the church were somewhat suspicious of what this traveling evangelist was bringing to their church. It wasn't long 26
before Steve Hill "took out" the head pastor, who lay on the floor for four hours, and was free to lay hands on whomever he wanted in the church. This is what the video of the first day of the "Brownsville Revival" shows.
18 - Why did he not expel his wife and Steve Hill, because they got their "impartation" directly from the Toronto "Blessing". This ruse that Brownsville has nothing to do with the Toronto "Blessing", when the Arnotts from Toronto have visited Brownsville on many occasions, is really getting ridiculous. Brownsville has invited leaders from Word- Faith, Toronto "Blessing", Kansas City Prophets, Rhema, and others to their meetings, as well as sent their leaders to attend meetings and conferences together with these other groups. You don't invite people to stand up and preach or testify in your church unless you agree with them.
19 - This may be true, but Randy Clark has and he was given the "impartation" directly from Rodney Howard-Browne and Clark passed it to John Arnott of the Toronto "Blessing"; who in turn passed it to Sandy Millar of Holy Trinity Brompton, who in turn passed it to Steve Hill.
20 - I believe that this is close to what he was saying to John Kilpatrick on the first day of the "revival" before Kilpatrick received the "impartation". What I think was actually said, as far as I can tell from the copy of the video tape I have is "I'm working here." The implication I got was that Hill knew Kilpatrick had not received the "impartation" yet and did not want him touching people on the foreheads with him because it might inhibit the "anointing". Watch the tape for yourself and decide.
21 - Again, not mentioned here are those who did not see it that way at all, including many who have viewed the tape but were not in attandance. There was no "rushing wind" as testified to by Kilpatrick. There were no "thousand" people at the "altar" but rather a few hundred. If this was a "move of God" then God has chosen to ignore His Word and His testimony because true revival has never started this way -- the way of the Third Wave.
22 - God is sovereign. He brings revival when and where He will. It does not start with wierd unbiblical "manifestations" and "impartations". The Bible is clear on how revival starts, and has always started: "REPENT, then, and TURN TO GOD, so that your sins may be wiped out, that TIMES OF REFRESHING may come from the Lord ..." (Ac 3:19) John Kilpatrick prophesied: "I want to close by giving ten proclamations about how things are going to be. Mr. Hanegraaff, AND ALL OTHER DEVILS, listen up. Number 1: This revival - I'm making a proclamation. I'm speaking this not just to you, friends, to impress you, but I'm saying this as a man of God from behind this holy desk in this holy environment of a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And I'm not saying this to you, but I'm saying this for the ears of God. And here's what I'm saying. This revival shall not diminish and this REVIVAL shall turn into a national AWAKENING." (John 27
Kilpatrick, BAG, "Prophesy Against Hank Hanegraaff", April 6, 1997) It seems that Kilpatrick got the cart before the horse. My Bible says that times of refreshing (revival) can only come as a result of repentance (awakening). Is this "revival" then truly orchestrated of God, since God has said in His Word that revival can only come about as a result of repentance?
http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/breaking.html
Go Home Brownsville Revival Report by the Pensacola News Journal (1 of 4) (Published 16th Nov 1997) Leaders shield finances, make many false claims By J. Lowe Davis Assistant managing editor
PENSACOLA - The numbers are amazing: Millions of visitors, millions of dollars, thousands of souls. The claims are heart-warming: crime curtailed, addiction overcome, sickness healed. The leaders are captivating: An ex-convict-junkie converted to evangelism; a visionary and prophet dedicated to revival.
But how true is it all? Is Pensacola's Brownsville Revival all that its leaders say it is? Are the leaders who and what they say they are?
The News Journal sought to answer those questions in a four-month investigation into the 2 1/2 year-old revival. The investigation focused on the revenue and the spending, the leaders' backgrounds and lifestyles, the revival's methods and messages, and the revival's claims about healings, crime reduction and charity.
Much about the Brownsville Revival is unquestionable: Millions of people from far and near have attended the four-nights-a-week revival Many have had an emotionally and spiritually stimulating experience there.Many have been baptized. Many have made a commitment to change their ways and live closer to God.
But much about the revival, as a business and a community influence, is questionable, and the answers cast it in a far different light.
Among the News Journal findings: --The revival did not begin the way Pastor John Kilpatrick and evangelist Steve Hill say it did. They say it was a spontaneous and overwhelming move of God and that everyone there felt it. But a videotape of the first service, plus the accounts from members who were there, reveal otherwise and indicate the revival was well-planned and orchestrated to become a large and long- 28
running enterprise.
Money is flowing, information is not. Brownsville leaders refuse to disclose revenue and spending details, beyond an abbreviated, generalized financial statement that shows the church taking in $6.6 million in 1996. Not even members of the congregation are allowed to look at the books. Revival leaders are generating fortunes. The top four ministers have set up their own nonprofit corporations selling their own revival-related merchandise, such as books, tapes, T-shirts and bumper stickers. The merchandise is sold both inside the church and via mail order. Only one of the corporations is paying sales tax. Hill's autobiography and oft-told stories about his outlaw past are contradicted by facts and by police records. He admitted to the News Journal that he fictionalized parts of his book for "impact." Hill's claims that most of his ministry's revenue from the revival goes to missions and charities is contradicted in his ministry's financial statement and Internal Revenue Service return. His assertions that his financial books are open are untrue; he would not share key information with the News Journal and sought to discourage questions. Kilpatrick has retreated from close contact with his flock while rapidly moving up into a luxurious lifestyle outside Pensacola. His new home, at an Alabama location he tried to keep secret, has barbed wire, a security guard and a metal gate. Months before an injury that kept him at home for weeks, Kilpatrick had ceased to keep office hours and had delegated his pastoring duties to assistants. Hill and Kilpatrick both have taken advantage of opportunities to conceal financial information. Both put "$10 and other good and valuable consideration" on their deeds as the price they paid for their new properties; Alabama allows people to do that if they wish to avoid public disclosure of the purchase price. The revival service's spiritual messages and methods have distressed many devout Pentecostals and given rise to much criticism among theologians and Bible scholars. Kilpatrick has sought to silence dissent and criticism by prophesying -- announcing he is voicing God's own predictions -- that the critics would die or suffer. The revival's benefits to the Pensacola community are either overstated or untrue. For example: Top law enforcement officers cite data disputing the revival leaders' statements that the revival has reduced crime. Social service agencies report having to serve a large influx of impoverished people who were drawn to Pensacola for the revival but who have been turned away by the church. Drug treatment centers report drug problems are on the rise, not dropping. Mental health centers report treating more out-of-town people than ever before, and most of them are people who came to Pensacola for the revival. Residents and businesses in the impoverished parts of the Brownsville community report that the church has done nothing for the area and refuses requests for help. The revival's claims about healing are unsubstantiated by medical documentation. The revival touts cases in general but does not provide names or specifics. The News Journal found people who said they had been cured and healed, but none had medical 29
proof from doctors.
Church budget is $6.6 million; 2% devoted to assist missions By Amie K. Streater staff writer
The Brownsville Revival is known the world over for leading sinners to God. But the 2 1/2-year phenomenon is not only making Christians out of gang members and drug users, it is making millions of dollars. But for whom?
Revival leaders talk at length about the souls they have saved, but they rarely talk about the money they have made. They tell expansive stories about the impact of the revival, but they downplay the expensive lifestyles the revival is underwriting.
A four-month News Journal investigation has revealed spending practices that sharply differ from the activities worshipers are asked to finance. About 15 percent of the church's $6.6 million budget -$1,019,406 - goes to salaries and benefits for 107 church employees, according to a brief and nondetailed financial statement the Brownsville Assembly of God released to the News Journal.
The church will not release specific information about the salaries and perquisites -- including housing allowances -- for the revival leaders. The revival leadership makes an unabashed call for money: "Reach into your wallets and pull out the biggest thing you can find," Associate Pastor Carey Robertson urges, suggesting that $100 is an acceptable figure.
Robertson and other leaders assure the audience that most of the money goes to missions -- organizations working to spread Christianity. Yet after evangelist Steve Hill takes his share -- the Friday night offering each week goes to Hill's Together in the Harvest Ministries -- the Brownsville church's donations to missions amounts to 2 percent of the church's annual budget. Church leaders call for money to cover the "tremendous" expense of keeping the church and revival going. Yet 14 percent of the budget goes to cover such costs.
By comparison, the revival pumps substantial money -- $1.2 million, or more than 18 percent of the budget --into activities that gross big returns: pastors' conferences, videotapes and music tapes to sell to revival-goers.
The church tells the revival audience that "our finances are in order" and "everything is open," but the leadership refuses to make full disclosure of the budget details. 30
"It's nobody's business but ours," Robertson said. "We are not accountable to the people who come to revival because they are our guests. They are making a free-will offering and therefore should not expect an audit or an accounting.
"If you wonder where the money is going, then don't give. Obviously, we can't spend money the way people want us to, but once it becomes a gift, it is ours to use. It is nobody's business how we use it."
That goes for the Brownsville flock as well. The church's membership gets an annual one-page statement, listing revenues and expenditures in general categories. Robertson and church treasurer R.L. Berry say detailed accountings are provided only to the church's eight-member board of directors.
No other church member can get financial answers without getting a two-thirds majority vote from the congregation authorizing release of the information. By contrast, large churches in the other major denominations in the Pensacola community make full financial disclosure. What is most clear about the Brownsville Revival money picture is that the leaders have found many ways to keep the money coming in. For example:
The church videotapes the four-nights-a-week revival services and sells tapes by the thousands, at $15 and $10. Each of the four major revival leaders started his own individual ministry corporation to sell revival-generated materials and memorabilia. The revival leaders have published autobiographies and other books sold through the individual ministry's corporation. The four top revival leaders have created an unofficial joint venture, Awake America, along with the Brownsville church. Using it as the umbrella organization, they go to big cities around the country to hold stadium revivals and share the proceeds. A recent two-night revival at The Pyramid, a large arena in Memphis, grossed $123,500. During the revival, sinners are coaxed to get rid of "articles of affection" --rings, bracelets, watches and other jewelry they received in adulterous affairs. Church leaders will not give specifics about how many such items show up in the offerings. The revival has given birth to a Bible college that in one year has brought in about $604,500. The church rents classroom space in a defunct Bible school on U.S. 98 in west Pensacola and charges its 507 students an instructional fee of $975 a semester, which includes books, but not room and board, for the 120 students who live on campus.
The students are mainly young people who tell revival audiences that they were floundering through life before they found salvation at the revival.
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On the road: Pleas for money intensify Revival leaders go big time with Awake America By Amie K. Streater staff writer
MEMPHIS, Tenn - Within the dazzling steel walls of The Pyramid, the arena that dominates the Memphis cityscape, evangelist Steve Hill was shining.
The 6,000 people who flocked each night to the Oct. 6-7 revival got the Hill they've read and heard about, the fiery, feisty, flamboyant man who glistens with sweat as he shouts, stomps and shakes his fist at their sin. Many came expecting nothing short of a miracle.
Hill and the other leaders of the Pensacola Brownsville Revival are finding ways to reach even more than the thousands every week at the Brownsville Assembly of God, where the 2 1/2-year-old religious phenomenon is conducted four nights a week.
Memphis was the most recent stadium revival, or "outpouring," the Brownsville leaders have produced in big cities under the name "Awake America." In the last year they have gone to Anaheim, Calif.; Dallas; St. Louis; Toledo, Ohio; and Birmingham, Ala. Hill says Awake America has barely been able to break even.
At The Pyramid, Hill told the audience: "I don't want to leave here with a deficit. It's never happened before, and it's not going to happen here."
Hill and the Memphis pastor handling the collection, the Rev. Randel McCarty, cited different figures at different times -- from $50,000 to $130,000 -- for the amount needed to cover expenses.
McCarty, pastor of Cathedral of Praise, a Pentecostal church in Memphis and one of the hosts, urged the first-night audience to give enough to raise the $50,000 cost of the two-day Memphis event. He said that was the total needed for the Pyramid rental fee and for the transportation and lodging for the revivalists.
The next night, Hill announced that $60,000 was needed, and he scolded the audience, many of whom were return visitors, for being stingy the night before. "Last night didn't cut it, folks," Hill said. Filling the buckets
When Hill moved on to his message, which is his term for his sermon, ushers loaded 32
white buckets of money onto dollies and pushed them into a separate room, where they began tallying the collection.
As Hill was wrapping up his sermon and gearing up for the altar call, he got the news: The collection was not enough. He stopped everything and renewed his money plea. The ushers moved into the audience again with the buckets. Hill began the anointings as the second counting got under way. He was working his way through the audience, laying on hands and praying for people when an usher gave him the word that the collection had still fallen short of the goal. Hill stopped praying and anointing and exhorted people to give again.
By the time the event was ending, McCarty reported that $130,000 was the amount needed to cover expenses and the collection fell $6,500 short -- meaning they raised $123,500 in two nights.
He did not explain why those figures differed from the $50,000 he stated the first night and the $60,000 Hill stated on the second night. Hill says he does not have exact figures, but he does not think the Memphis event was profitable.
"Memphis was so-so," Hill said in an interview a couple of weeks after the trip. Awake Americas, they're not money-makers. There was a time, I think in Anaheim, we sold $13,000 in books, which was wonderful, but there's not a whole lot of money to be made."
Awake America is an informal joint venture, according to Hill's attorney, Walter Chandler. It consists of Hill, Brownsville Assembly of God Pastor John Kilpatrick, Brownsville School of Ministry President Michael Brown and Brownsville Music Minister Lindell Cooley, plus the Brownsville church.
Kilpatrick's attorney, Larry Morris, said that before the ministers go out on another big- city crusade, he wants to make sure they get incorporated. Money is secret
Awake America's finances are handled by the crusade coordinator, Jeff Gardner, who works in Steve Hill's office. Hill declined to release to the News Journal any financial information about the crusades without consulting his attorney, and Chandler refused without explanation.
Pyramid officials would not say how much Awake America paid to rent the arena, but they did say that the starting rate is about $5,000 a night. The final rental figure depends on how much extra service, such as ticket-takers, security, technicians and other support staff The Pyramid has to provide.
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The top figure, according to The Pyramid management office, could be about $11,000 for an event such as Awake America's. If the Brownsville team members failed to raise the amount they wanted, it wasn't for lack of planning. In anticipation of the event, they papered churches across the region with fliers and posters. For five days, Memphis television stations carried commericals touting the event. A moving event
Both nights, people from across the mid-South began filing in around 5 p.m. for the 7 p.m. services in the 20,000-seat arena. Many were already veterans of the revival in Pensacola: They knew all the words to Cooley's toe-tapping tunes and knew just when to shout during "The Happy Song."
The newcomers learned quickly. One young mother with an infant in her arms got so caught up in the energetic, infectious music that she jumped up and down for several minutes, heedless to her son's head bouncing up and down on her shoulder. When another woman noticed and offered to hold the baby while the mother continued to leap and shout, the baby jerked dizzily for a few moments, spit up with force, then sobbed. His mother did not see that -- she had moved up to get closer to the stage, leaving her baby in the arms of strangers.
After the music, after the money call, after Hill's message came the altar call. As he does at Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Hill asked the people in the front rows to pick up their chairs and clear a large area.
The urgent lyrics of the altar-call anthem, "Mercy Seat," filled the arena as Hill shouted: "Hurry! Hurry! Get down on your knees before God! Hurry!" Hundreds made their way through the audience and knelt. Many more stood in the wings because their chairs had been taken away. Teen-agers who had been sitting on the floor in front of the stage just stayed put.
Hill and the ministry team moved around the arena floor and touched people on the head and prayed for them by chanting "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus! Fire, Fire, Fire! Now, now now!" An overlooked believer
Hill promised to stay until everyone had been prayed for. "We didn't come here to sleep," he said. Yet Hill left both nights around 11:30, while hundreds remained waiting --some on their knees weeping.
On Monday night, one of those who waited in vain was Althea Catron, 41, of Memphis. After reading about the flamboyant evangelist in Charisma magazine, she was hopeful that Hill could help her son, Erkins Catron Jr., who has a brain tumor that prevents him from walking or otherwise functioning normally. He is 14 but is the size of a 5-year- 34
old.
Believing that a touch from Hill would mean a touch from God -- and thus would bring healing -- she sat through the message and struggled to the front after the altar call, slowly steering her son's bulky wheelchair around crouched and sprawled bodies until she was close to the stage.
For about an hour, she stood there silently, staring straight ahead and tightly grasping the han dles of her son's wheelchair. Hill's ministers and prayer teams moved all around her, passing her time and again but never making eye contact or touching her or the boy. Several people nearby became upset that she was being ignored, and a woman grabbed a member of the prayer team who was passing by, tugging him over to the boy. He stopped and prayed and laid on hands. Hill never approached the boy.
Tuesday night, the mother and son were back. Hill passed her by again. She stood and waited a half-hour, attracting considerable notice, until Hill's staffers pulled him over to the wheelchair. Hill gave the boy an anointing touch and prayed for him.
Althea Catron was happy. Her son's condition did not change, but she said the prayer gives her hope. "I expect a miracle any time," she said. Give at least $100, revival leaders urge: 'God knows how much you have' By Amie K. Streater staff writer
PENSACOLA - The Brownsville Revival is famous for fiery sermons by evangelist Steve Hill, who shouts to sinners to run to the altar, repent and beg for mercy.
But there is another message that's never videotaped, never photographed, never shown on television: Before you come down to the altar to be saved, reach into your wallet and give. Specifically, give $100.
That message is delivered so skillfully that Brownsville Assembly of God, with about 3,500 permanent members, has an annual revenue far exceeding any of Pensacola's other large churches. The church took in more than $6.5 million in 1996. Of that amount, $5.6 million, or 86 percent, came from the collection plate.
Among the givers are visiting pastors, who are urged to write big checks without waiting for permission from their church boards. Husbands are told to give generously and to forget about consulting with their wives. "You can get forgiveness a lot quicker than you can get permission," Associate Pastor Carey Robertson tells the audience. 35
Robertson has taken over the nightly collection speech while Pastor John Kilpatrick recovers from injuries he suffered in a fall. "God knows how much you have," Robertson says to the whole crowd in the plea, which can stretch for more than 20 minutes.
Every man, woman and child is asked to think about how much they've spent on a television set, a car, a toy. They are reminded what a pair of Levis, a pair of Reeboks cost. They are asked to think about what they pay when they go out to eat with the family, and then give at least as much for the work of God.
Every Friday night, the collection goes to Hill for his ministry. The church makes a point of this and notes that is the only night Hill takes anything.
On Fridays, Hill adds a passionate explanation to Robertson's remarks . In a speech that extends at times to a half-hour, Hill cajoles the audience with descriptions of desperate missions and orphanages he helps -- though he gives few documentable details -- and he lavishes contempt on selfishness and stinginess.
"I've never been ashamed to give," he tells the audience. "I love giving. I love to give to the Lord."
Some of the people crammed into the pews are struggling financially, but they reach for their wallets without hesitation. A frail, aging widow who tries to get to the revival several times a week, scratches out a $50 check. Again. She sits primly, wearing the one good, navy-blue dress she owns, and says she is glad to give. In another pew, an elderly woman gives the revival all the money she's set aside to pay for her prescription medication. "God will provide," she says.
Some people see the offering as their chance to break away from sin: Heeding Hill's call to give up "articles of affection," they hand over the rings, bracelets, watches they received from their lovers in sinful or adulterous affairs.
Hill said his ministry has not received a lot of jewelry in the Friday night collections. It ranges from a $2,500 diamond ring to a not-so-impressive thin gold bracelet. He is willing to show the items to interviewers. He said he has not decided what his ministry will do with them.
Brownsville church leaders would not allow the News Journal to see any jewelry the church has found in the revival collections that go to the church. They would not give any details about it. "We might have 10 pieces of jewelry," church treasurer R. L. Berry said. "Most of it is not worth a dime. "You know, people get emotional," he said.
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The church plans to sell any gold in the jewelry and put the proceeds into the building fund for the new family life center Revival costly, but figures are vague By Amie K. Streater staff writer
PENSACOLA - The high cost of putting on the revival is always emphasized during the nightly call for $100 donations at the Pensacola Brownsville Revival.
But church leaders refuse to say exactly what those costs are.
An abbreviated 1996 financial statement the church released to the News Journal lists only $22,402 as revival expenses. It also lists a series of administrative costs that does not indicate whether any of those are attributable to the revival or whether these costs encompass any salaries:
Church officials just say the revival is costly. "It's unreal, the expenses," church business administrative assistant Rose Compton said. Administrative expenses amount to 14 percent of the Brownsville Assembly of God budget, and salaries and benefits amount to 15 percent.
Associate Pastor Carey Robertson said he thinks Brownsville's expenditures for salaries and administration are more conservative than what churches usually spend in these areas.
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"Normally, churches break a budget up into three parts, 33 percent of their budget goes to operating expenses, which includes mortgage, utilites, maintenance, all those things, 33 percent goes to ministry and 33 percent into salaries," he said. "That's generally what the concept is.
Ministry fails to meet watchdog's guidelines By J. Lowe Davis and Amie K. Streater staff writers
PENSACOLA - Doctors, lawyers, teachers -- all have to pass tests to do their work. Colleges, hospitals, restaurants -- all have to undergo scrutiny by accrediting or inspecting agencies.
But who reviews religious organizations and evangelists? Who determines whether they deserve the public's trust?
The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, a nationwide watchdog group formed in 1979 by Billy Graham and several other evangelists, exists specifically to oversee religious organizations' financial dealings. The ECFA coaches its 860 organization members into earning that trust by requiring that they follow a strict set of guidelines for handling donors' money ethically.
Organizations voluntarily participate in ECFA and must abide by strict rules. Nine organizations in the Pensacola area are in the ECFA: Globe Missionary Evangelism, Waterfront Rescue Mission, Arise and Shine Evangelistic Association, Globe Europe, Living Water Adopt-a-Child, Living Water Ministries, Manna Bible Institute, New Hope Home of Waterfront Rescue Mission, and Rhema Bible Institute.
None of the organizations involved in Pensacola's Brownsville Revival are members.
Brownsville Revival evangelist Steve Hill's organization, Together in the Harvest Ministries Inc., has a membership application pending. Paul Nelson, president of ECFA, said that to be accepted, a religious organization must meet these requirements:
Adopt a written statement affirming its commitment to the Christian faith and operate in a manner that reflects Biblical practices.
The statement Hill filed in Texas when he incorporated Together in the Harvest states that the organization was formed "to promote and perpetuate the doctrines of Christianity as a religion by going into all the world and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
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Set up a board of directors, the majority of which cannot be staff members or relatives.
Hill's organization has four directors: Hill, who is president. Jeff Gardner, who works in the Together in the Harvest office at Hill's home and handles Awake America, one of Hill's joint ventures. Gary Brady, former pastor of Faith Assembly of God in Tallahassee, where Hill also used to work. Ronald Ardt, a friend of Hill's who lives in Dallas.
Submit to an annual audit from an independent certified public accountant.
Hill said his friend, Jody Fauss of Lindale, Texas, handles his ministry's finances. Fauss, however, told the News Journal that he is not a certified public accountant, and that he does not do the audit for Together in the Harvest.
Exercise financial control to ensure resources are used as intended.
An informal financial statement Hill released to the News Journal listed 32.15 percent of the Together in the Harvest money goes to "other" and "uncategorized" expenditures. Hill did not provide details about those expenditures.
Provide copies of audited financial statements on request. Hill's attorney, Walter Chandler, refused to provide those. The ECFA would not tolerate that, according to Nelson. "If they were a member, that wouldn't fly," he said.
Conflicts of interest should be avoided by fully disclosing on audited financial statements any transactions between members.
Hill has not provided a list of Together in the Harvest staff. He has not provided an audited statement. He has not specified what role his wife, Jeri Hill, plays in the organization or how much she is paid. Her name appears with Steve Hill's on the Together in the Harvest letterhead.
Comply with ECFA's 12 standards of fund-raising, which include accurately describing the group's activities, avoiding giving potential donors any unrealistic expectations of what their gifts will accomplish, truthfulness in communication and providing, on request, detailed reports of a project for which it is soliciting gifts.
Hill provided an informal financial statement that said $900,000, or 75 percent, of his share of the Brownsville Revival offering goes to missions. Elsewhere in the statement, he indicates $789,000 goes for such giving. His lawyer's figure was $639,000 and Hill's IRS return indicates his ministry gave $102,212.
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Despite repeated requests from the News Journal, neither Hill nor his lawyer identified specific missions and addresses, other than lists of countries and general identifications such as "Misc. - Central and South America and various countries."
Neither Hill nor his lawyer would provide copies of the IRS returns for the nonprofit organization, even though they are, by law, public information. The News Journal had to obtain copies through the IRS.
Revival for sale through merchandise; Top ministers cash in with own products By Amie K. Streater staff writer
PENSACOLA - Brownsville Revival music stirs people to jump up and dance, filling the aisles and pews with swaying, clapping, bouncing, arm-waving, foot-pounding, head- bobbing worshipers.
When they leave for home, they don't have to leave the music behind. For 200 feet up and down the corridor that rings the main auditorium, tables are piled with music cassettes and CDs and that's just a fraction of the merchandise available for purchase.
The Brownsville Revival has generated a multi-million dollar retail industry, conducted within the walls of the church. Inside the church's double front doors, tapes, T-shirts and similar revival-generated products are offered for sale all during the day and until about an hour after the revival is under way at night.
The crowds that stand in line throughout the day to get good seats for the night-time revival are a steady source of customers. Even as the revival service is under way, people leave the pews to browse and buy. At times, the customers are so densely packed that people have to suck in their stomachs and step sideways to pass one another in the merchandise-laden corridor and lobby. The products are sold not only by the church but also by individual corporations created by the revival leaders.
Most profit figures are unclear. Revival musician Lindell Cooley's ministry, Music Missions International, has sold close to $500,000 in merchandise, mainly music tapes and CDs, since he established the corporation in March, said general manager Larry Day. The revival's evangelist, Steve Hill, told the News Journal that his books and tapes, sold through his corporation, Together in the Harvest, earned $224,675.
The church itself, which as a church does not have to make its finances public or pay taxes, says it lost money last year on revival merchandise, despite $625,166 in sales of 40
books, music and video tapes.
An abbreviated 1996 financial statement that the church released to the News Journal indicates the church fell short $239,160 on the products.
Associate Pastor Carey Robertson, who oversees the church, blames that on an overload of inventory at year-end. The church had bought more products than it could sell before the end of its year, he said. The church's statement lists $864,324 in merchandise expenses:
The statement lists $625,166 in merchandise revenues:
Music $336,369 Videotapes $185,820 Tapes $62,122 Cassettes, manuals, books $40,855
Some products, especially the videotapes of nearly every revival service, are sold under the church's name. On the other hand, the popular revival music cassettes and CDs are sold under the name of Music Missions International Inc., headed by revival maestro Cooley. Many people buy two, three, even 10 videotapes, which cost $10 and $15. They gladly spend the money, saying they want to sustain "the anointing" by video viewing numerous different revival services.
They also load music cassettes, at $10 each, and CDs, at $15, into their shopping bags. Cooley's music is a big seller, but so is the altar-call anthem, "Mercy Seat," which is available on cassette and CD in three different keys advertised as "easy to sing" back at home.
The Brownsville Revival has yet another product, sold under the name "The Vision Speaks": kits containing materials to make one of the sequined, jewel-toned, multi- colored banners displayed at the revival. The kits sell for $125 for a small banner, or $200 for a large banner, the size Brownsville uses. The kit includes all the materials except glue, scissors and pins. The banner kits are not listed anywhere on the church's financial statement -- not as revenue, not as an expense.
Robertson's explanation: "We have a kit that tells people how to make banners, but we don't sell banners." He would not say how the financial statement accounts for the 41
banner kits and he would not say how many have been sold. He also would not say how The Vision Speaks is connected to the church.
Some corporations selling revival-related merchandise in the church are independent of the church. They serve to market products for individual revival leaders. Buyers cannot make their purchases at the door, they have to pay -- by cash, check or credit card -- at the cash register set up to handle each minister's business.
Brownsville Assembly of God pastor John Kilpatrick sells his books and tapes through his newly created ministry, Feast of Fire. He says that his book royalties go to his ministry, but he refuses to disclose any information about the finances of his organization. As a nonprofit corporation, its IRS return is open to the public. But under IRS rules, nonprofits have five months and 15 days after the fiscal year to file, and Feast of Fire has not reached its first filing deadline.
Michael Brown, who heads the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry as well as his own nonprofit organization, ICN Ministries, does provide some figures about his revenues: He estimates his books and tapes bring in $50,000 a month. That amounts to $600,000 a year.
"I don't write the books to make money," Brown told the News Journal. "I have publishers asking me to write. I have to write what I feel burdened to write. Ethically I have a problem with personally getting rich through ministry. I'd be much more at home just with an ample salary." He would not disclose how his ministry spends the $600,000. The IRS said Brown's ministry has asked for two extensions and is not due to file until late this month.
Steve Hill's Together in the Harvest Ministries gave the News Journal an informal financial statement saying he took $30,000 in royalties, but it did not indicate what the sales were. His corporation's most recent IRS return showed he took $34,000 in royalties from sales of $141,592.
The News Journal asked the IRS for copies of the tax returns for all the ministers' corporations because all are registered as nonprofit organizations and thus their financial information and tax returns are public information. Hill's 1993, 1994 and 1996 returns were the only ones the IRS had on file.
3 top ministers fail to pay state sales tax By J. Lowe Davis staff writer
PENSACOLA - Florida taxpayers are getting almost no benefit from the millions of 42
dollars of Brownsville Revival-related merchandise. Three of the revival's four top ministers are paying no sales tax to the state on the products they sell.
According to the Department of Revenue, the ministries of Steve Hill, John Kilpatrick and Lindell Cooley are in violation of the law. Brownsville Assembly of God also pays no tax on its large product line of videotapes, cassettes, T-shirts and other revival products it sells. State law exempts churches from having to pay sales tax when they buy products and supplies and from having to collect, and send to the state, county and city any taxes on the products they sell.
But the rules are different for the individual ministers' own nonprofit corporations -- even though they are selling their merchandise inside a church, according to a spokesman for the Department of Revenue. Unless they meet the state's narrow definition of a church -- holding regular worship services at a specific location -- nonprofits need two numbers for the state:
Consumer Exemption Certificate: This exempts them from paying tax when they buy things. But having this does not exempt them from the duty to collect sales tax when they sell something. When they sell, they are "dealers" and must have:
Sales Tax Registration: This is for collecting sales tax on things they sell. They have to send in the tax monies to the state.
Three of the nonprofit corporations handling revival merchandise do not have dealer registrations. They are pastor John Kilpatrick's Feast of Fire Ministries, evangelist Steve Hill's Together in the Harvest and Lindell Cooley's Music Missions International, Inc.
Chuck Springston, public information spokesman for the Department of Revenue, said none of the three are in the department's records, either for a consumer exemption certificate or dealer sales tax registration.
"Unless they registered under a name other than the one that is commonly known, they aren't registered," he said. Kilpatrick will not disclose any details about his ministry's sales.
He said in an interview with the News Journal three weeks ago that the ministry was paying sales tax. Receipts for items purchased from his ministry, Feast of Fire, do not show that sales tax was charged.
His attorney, Larry Morris said last week that he had just learned, via an opinion from an accounting firm, Feast of Fire must collect and pay sales tax. He said he was going to recommend to Kilpatrick that he "self-report" to the state and pay the taxes right away. Hill's ministry, Together in the Harvest, reported in its most recent IRS return 43
that its sales totaled $141,592.
Hill said in an interview with the News Journal three weeks ago that the ministry was paying sales tax. Receipts for items purchased from his ministry do not show that sales tax was charged.
Lindell Cooley's MMI Ministries has not been charging tax on its products but has been setting aside 7 percent of its sales revenue in anticipation that the taxes might be due, said general manager Larry Day. He said that when the corporation formed, seven months ago, he asked the state about the taxes and had been trying to get a clarification ever since. On Nov. 7, Day said, he received an opinion from an accountant that MMI does have to charge tax.
Michael Brown's ICN Ministries has a dealer number, indicating it is collecting sales tax, Springston said. To protect taxpayer confidentiality, he said, he could not disclose how much sales tax ICN has paid. Some items are never taxable, either when the corporation buys them or sells them: Bibles, hymn books, prayer books, altar items, sacramental items, ceremonial raiment and equipment. A book of sermons, tapes of sermons and services and pastors' autobiographies do not fall within the state's specific merchandise exemptions, Springston said.
http://www.banner.org.uk/brn/Pensa-News1.html
NOTE: The ministries upgraded their financial management, moved the sales operations out of the church to a trailer "store" on the parking lot (revenues plummeted by two- thirds), commissioned public audits, and settled tax issues with the state. Two of the four ministries, those of Mr. Hill and Pastor Kilpatrick, joined the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and are now members in good standing. FURTHER RECOMMENDED READINGS ON THE SUBJECT
EXPOSING THE COUNTERFEIT http://deceptionfree.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/exposing-the-counterfeit- in-the-emergent-church/ RANDY AND PAULA WHITE PARASITES PROSTITUTES PIMPS http://www.scribd.com/doc/35148151 Manasseh Jordan - Never Been Wrong Yet? How About Prophesies network TV for Paula White and Lakeland property is good soil? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X81rDQCpTKU Roy Aldrich, a retired school teacher, who was robbed of a $100,000 by Dan and Karl Strader, knew that Pastor Karl Strader was an enemy of good men. http://goo.gl/GjQJ3 http://www.scribd.com/doc/56459981/ RODNEY HOWARD BROWNE THE FLEECER http://www.scribd.com/doc/36546812 THE ARROGANT TBNS PAUL CROUCH http://www.scribd.com/doc/82784017 BILL JOHNSON IS THE DECEIVER http://www.scribd.com/doc/25418818 GRAVE SUCKING BILL JOHNSON http://wp.me/p2M7AJ-1mT ORAL AND RICHARD ROBERTS http://www.scribd.com/doc/17098294 Navigating Through The Minefield Of Signs And Wonders http://www.enterhisrest.org/charismata/protect_deception.pdf SUPERNATURAL SID ROTH http://www.christianmediaresearch.com/sidroth.html Pat King The Third Wave Sorceress http://tinyurl.com/2bcm9mn PAT KING THE WITCH http://deceptionfree.wordpress.com/tag/is-patricia- king-a-witch/ NATIONAL AWAKENING http://wp.me/P2M7AJ-sU REVIVAL ALLIANCE AND TODD BENTLEY http://wp.me/p2M7AJ-ja Todd Bentley marries woman he had affair with; Rick Joyner wants you to send Bentley some money http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23332/todd-bentley- 9 45
HEY TODD BENTLEY DIVORCING YOUR WIFE TO MARRY YOUR MISTRESS IS NOT SOMETHING GOD ENDORSES OR ALLOWS http://www.scribd.com/doc/47784235/ An Open Heaven- Todd Bentley's Highway to Heaven http://www.letusreason.org/Latrain45.htm TODD BENTLEY IS NOT ONLY A FROG BUT A FRAUD WHO DEFRAUDS http://tl.gd/ka0rvu RICK JOYNER THE FOOL http://apprising.org/2012/06/07/the-colossians- heresy-part-3/ NATIONAL AWAKENING http://wp.me/P2M7AJ-sU SAM AND BENNY HINN THE SCOUNDRELS http://wp.me/p2M7AJ-Lf THIRD WAVE OR CLOWNS FOR THE DEVIL http://wp.me/s2M7AJ-clowns STACEY CAMPBELL THE WITCH http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2- VIR82MGqE Pope to Copeland: Catholics and Charismatics must spiritually unite http://goo.gl/wm07he
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