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It's a fact that Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship is not a church but a fellowship run by a family owned benevolent dictator Pastor John Arnott who has his wife Carol on the five man board along with his right hand man Pastor Steve Long to ensure that they have the monopoly and control. Yes it's not a democratic run nonprofit organization or a church owned and run by members. If John Arnott had any integrity he would have a 12 man board just like Billy Graham Evangelistic Organization? And Pastor Steve Long would not tell lies about others and be a proven coward – “The Liar” http://victorybooks.tripod.com/apostasy.htm The Toronto Blessing is a term coined by the British press to describe the revival and resulting phenomena that began in January of 1994 at Toronto Airport Vineyard Christian Fellowship, now known as Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF), a neocharismatic evangelical Christian church located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Participants in the conferences and meetings sponsored by TACF have reported healings, incidents of personal transformation and a greater awareness of God's love. It has also been referred to as "The Father's Blessing", "The Anointing", "The Awakening", "The River", "The Fire". In Christendom there are two main point of views about Toronto Blessing – It’s of God or it’s Demonic. A) At TACF Revival services, worshippers have exhibited unusual behaviours that they attribute to an encounter with God and the “fire of the Holy Spirit”. The most common described behaviours include hysterical laughter (or “holy laughter”), physical spasms or jerks, falling to the floor under the Holy Spirit's power (aka “slain in the Spirit”) and speaking in tongues. Other less common behaviours include manifestations that resembled roaring like lions and barking like dogs. (See Derek Prince commentary). At one time the TACF website described it thus: “The Toronto Blessing is a transferable anointing. In its most visible form it overcomes worshippers with outbreaks of laughter, weeping, groaning, shaking, falling, 'drunkenness,' and even behaviours that have been described as a 'cross between a jungle and a farmyard.'" Loud noises, jerking, aggressiveness, character assassination, arrogance, intolerance, howling, eerie and hysterical laughter, lack of control, barking like dogs and roaring like lions are not the evidence of the Holy Spirit in believers but a sign of demonic activity . These are temporary phenomena because the demonic activities occur in their physical bodies and in their souls for a period only. Demons do not tamper with your free wills. Even Legion, who probably had thousands of demons, had the free will to desire deliverance and salvation from our Lord (Mark 5:1-15). The bible tells us what the evidence of the Holy Spirit is - Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 5:23 gentleness, self-control. - James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. The New Testament tells us that evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. It tells us real Christians are humble, meek, forgiving, loving, gracious, long suffering, kind, not judgmental and full of faith and power. It tells us that apostate Christians are lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, traitors, headstrong, haughty, sensual and have a form of godliness but deny its power. They are always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. They resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was. "...within the professing Christian church at least as many people need deliverance from evil spirits as need healing from sickness and that's about eighty per cent." (Derek Prince's - `How Jesus dealt with demons'.) James told us that Christians can be influenced by a wisdom that is earthly sensual demonic and where exist confusion and every evil work: James 3:14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 3:15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 3:16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. The word "possessed" [by demons] is probably not so appropriate when applied to christians. The Greek word actually means "to be demonised", that is to be in some way or another under the influence or attack or control of the enemy (Derek Prince's - "Nature of Demons"). B) Yes, some have attributed these new forms of behavior to "demonic possessions". It is pressed that evidence of the Holy Spirit in believers appear otherwise than that evident at Toronto, and Toronto has been widely slated, even from within Charismatic circles, as a place where 'demonic activity' comes to the fore. Emotional and heated comments have flown over both sides of the fence. Some within the Charismatic circle have made a point of characterizing Toronto as "temporary demonic phenomena", citing strained comparisons with such pretenders as "Legion" (Mark 5:1-15). The Bible tells us what the evidence of the Holy Spirit is firstly the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control). (Also see James 3:17). At Toronto is held that the Fruit of the Spirit, and the gentle love of the Father (the "Father Heart of God") precedes any experience. Sterling character and perfect integrity must outperform mere phenomena in every individual. Hence character is prioritized. (Pastors John Arnott and Steve Long don't have any integrity - see the make up of their board! And Pastor Steve Long is a proven liar and coward– The Liar ) Upon this platform of "character first", Holy Spirit is then welcomed to touch people and effect healing or power. When He does so, we often only see outward expressions of what happens inside desperately hurting people. As the Holy Spirit touches and heals deep pain, people cry or laugh. It is held that when people 'get up from the floor', their hearts have been touched with healing, and significant counseling having been effected, supported or catalyzed sovereignly. Outward manifestations of the Holy Spirit's work may also take other forms than healing. Although "Toronto" as a moniker has gained wide currency in Christian circles, its actual leaders are less well known. TACF pastors John G. Arnott and Carol S. Arnott were initially inspired by the revival in Argentina. As a result of their spiritual hunger for revival in Canada, they invited Randy Clark of St. Louis, Missouri to minister at TACF in January of 1994. Randy Clark had been greatly impacted by the ministry of Rodney Howard-Browne, a South African preacher, founder of the Rodney Howard-Browne Evangelistic Association in Louisville, Kentucky, author of The Touch of God, and the earliest known proponent of the “holy laughter” revival phenomenon in modern times. The Blessing has proved immensely popular and in recent years, many tens of thousands of international Christian leaders have come to the TACF to experience it for themselves. The experience is usually deeply affecting and people are often said to leave the services with a renewed zeal for their faith and an overwhelming desire to spread the message. Some visiting pastors have been so affected by the experience that they have taken the message back to their own flocks, sometimes radically transforming the way that services are conducted in their own churches. Areas that have become known for Toronto Blessing revivals worldwide include Pensacola, Florida and Bath, England. The practice is hotly debated on the Internet and in Christian journals and programs with the doubters expressing fear that "Satan has been given free reign to run unchecked through formerly Christian communities". The fact that it can seemingly overtake a whole congregation when the "fit" is on them, spreading almost "virally" from one person to the next adds urgency to their fears. Some leaders even liken the coming of the Toronto Blessing to a "spiritual war", with the Devil gaining ever greater numbers of deceived swooning soldiers by the day. This perception differs from the actual character of most Toronto-esque services, which are characterized by worship (in which the gentle "Father Heart of God" and the healing effect of this insight is prioritized over any "hysteria"), Biblical preaching, and ministry to individuals (where an accountable and caring team prays for people around the themes of encouragement, strengthening and comfort). This is characterized as a revival or renewal of God’s true hope, where the Holy Spirit's manifest presence is tangible and highly valued. In this many see a renewal of the actual nature of "church", a return to core principles. Neutral observers point out that this type of phenomenon is not at all new. Nor is the resistance to the movement by the average churchgoer who may be unfamiliar with religious experience per se. The perennial resistance to these experiences by conventional organized religion was summarized by Carl Jung in his observation that (organized) "Religion is a (psychological) defense against the religious experience". The peak of Toronto Blessing prominence in the Christian community occurred in the mid to late 1990s. Since that time it has faded somewhat from public view, although the proponents of Discernment Ministries would suggest that these kinds of events are simply part of a wider theological cycle that has existed continually throughout modern era Pentecostalism / Charismatism. Studies at the University of Virginia have pointed out that "the beliefs of... the Toronto Blessing are aligned exactly with those of the Latter Rain revival", [1] which indicates that the phenomenon is not unique, but part of an ongoing and cyclical pattern. In more recent times, the Golden Sword Prophecy from TACF has been spreading amongst Charismatic churches. External links · Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship
Church Times Article] · Apostasy & Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship · Toronto Blessing · Blog article by Adrian Warnock about the Toronto Blessing including overview of similar phenomena in church history Rodney Howard-Browne Rodney Howard-Browne is a South African Charismatic preacher and evangelist. Rodney Howard-Browne was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and grew up in the Eastern Cape and Transkei. He preached in Southern Africa from 1981 to 1987. In 1987, he moved to America. He travels under the banner of Revival Ministries International. He also pastors a church in Tampa, Florida, The River at Tampa Bay, which he founded on December 1, 1996. Weekly broadcasts of his meetings can be found at www.revival.com. Rodney Howard Browne, who is the darling of Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, and his wife, Adonica, oversee his $16 million church, which they founded in 1996. The couple lived in a six-bedroom, four-bath lakefront home on Cory Lake in northwest Tampa. The home included a dock, spa, pool and gazebo. Rodney now lives in a million dollar home on Bay Shore in Tampa Florida with the money he stole from the love gifts of God's people. South African Pentecostal Evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne, a white supremacist in theology, who immigrated with all his brothers and parents to United States became a naturalized American and taught that "sheep needed to be fleeced or they would have too much hair and could not see where they are going.. It was the pastor’s job to fleece the sheep had been credited with bringing the laughter revival to America. But from what really happened in Carpenter's Home Church in 1993 and 1994 and its devastating effect on the community including the robbing, raping and murdering of the sheep, was not much of a revival. Roy Aldrich, a retired school teacher, was robbed of $100,000.00 by Pastor Karl Strader and his son Dan Strader of Carpenter's Home Church Lakeland, Florida. Rodney, who was a personal friend of Karl Strader who practiced nepotism, and bought him a Lincoln town car, was asked to help the elderly victims who were robbed by the Straders and he refused. But when German Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke’s decided to relocate his ministry to Florida, Rodney Howard-Browne decided he would give Bonnke a house. At first he offered Bonnke his own house in Tampa, but Bonnke had to locate in Orlando to be closer to his operational base. It was then that Howard-Browne decided to build Bonnke a new $250,000 home in Orlando. Rodney then drove a brand new car to Bonnke’s driveway. Rodney Howard Browne is the self proclaimed "Holy Ghost Bartender". Rodney claims you can get drunk in the Holy Spirit and followers have been caught on film staggering around like they are drunk on alcohol. Holy Laughter is another sign the Rodney claims to be a dispensor of. He recites scriptures taken out of the book of Acts in the Bible to support his claims: Acts 2:14-21 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words. 15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come: 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Check out
Source: http://torontoblessing.tripod.com/ |
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