“A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign…” – Matt. 16:4
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;” – 1 Tim. 4:1
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;” – 2 Tim. 4:4
“For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the innocent.” – Rom. 16:18
“Escaping & Exposing the trap and darkness of Bethel Church, Bill Johnson and Jesus Culture.
An in-depth testimony by M’Kayla Kelly, a former “Seer Prophet” tells her story and helps to expose the false teachings of Bill Johnson, Todd Bentley, John Paul Jackson and others…”
“Jan Markell spends the hour with parents who lost their daughter to Bethel Church, Redding, CA and the New Apostolic Reformation in part 1 of a 2-part program.”
Birds of a feather…..
Other popular “teachers” associated with or endorse Bethel are Heidi Baker and Che Ahn.
Some examples of the strangeness that goes on there.
Notice the pyramid over their prayer room building (weird):
Beni Johnson, the wife of Bill Johnson, seems to be into weird New Agey things such as reflexology.
Compare the following statement with “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me:…” – Isaiah 45:5
An example of the foolishness that has gone on in the church. The Bible reads to not lay hands suddenly on no man (1 Tim. 5:22) but that is what they exactly do. Moreover, the Bible reads to do things in decently and order (1 Cor. 14:44). And nowhere will you find any scripture to walk through a “fire tunnel.”
You may also want to check out this exposé video about the so-called Kundalini spirit going around in Bethel and other churches.
Bethel’s theology is known to be man-centered.
Compare with scriptures:
“18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.” – Romans 16:18
“33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.” – Luke 17:33
“19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)” – Philippians 3:19
“I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.” – Isaiah 42:8
“30 He must increase, but I must decrease.” – John 3:30
The following are not biblical! Just an example of the many unbiblical teaching of Bill Johnson and co-Pastor Kris Vallotton:
Since Bethel is heavily focused on miracles and healing and claims to heal (never mind Bill Johnson wears glasses), here is my take on the topic of healing from a Biblical perspective:
Does God Really Still Supernaturally Heal Today?
“Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;” – Psalms 103:2-4
With satan in the “healing” business, does the living God of the Bible supernaturally heal today? I will say yes, absolutely! It doesn’t mean He will always supernaturally heal, but if God chooses to He can. In my opinion, Christians who say God doesn’t supernaturally heal today are doing a great disservice to both Christians and non-Christians (I am looking at you John MacArthur!). You mean to really say to me satan can to do all these supernatural works but the Creator of the universe doesn’t? We give Jesus a bad name if we act as if the devil can heal but Jesus cannot. Who knows how many Christians out there who have ailments that kind can be supernaturally healed by the power of God if someone had the faith to pray for that person. Non-Christians are experiencing all kinds of supernatural “powers” in the occult and New Age but many churches make the Christian God to be dead or powerless. I can attest the supernatural power of healing is for today. I’ve prayed for a person for healing when I placed my hand over his hurting knee. To tell the truth, I didn’t even expect for his knee to be healed, but when he told me his knee was no longer hurting I was pleasantly surprised. The most important thing out of that experience is that we were thankful to God.
The Bible is clear: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:17-18)
“Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:”(James 5:4)
Cessationists will somehow try to explain such passages away, but if they are going to argue that the supernatural gifts have ceased then how do they explain the gifts were still operating long far after the apostolic age?
Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons: (2nd century AD – c. 202) studied under bishop Polycarp, who in turn had been a disciple of Apostle John, wrote:
“For some [Christians] do certainly and truly drive out devils, so that those who have thus been cleansed from evil spirits frequently both believe [in Christ], and join themselves to the Church. Others have foreknowledge of things to come: they see visions, and utter prophetic expressions. Others still, heal the sick by laying their hands upon them, and they are made whole.” – Irenaeus Against Heresies, Book II, 32:4 (190 A.D.)
Origen wrote in Against Celsus, Book I, 46 (230-254 A.D.):
“And there are still preserved among Christians traces of that Holy Spirit which appeared in the form of a dove. The Christians expel evil spirits, and perform many cures, and foresee certain events, according to the will of the Logos.”
Against Celsus, Book I, 67, “And the Name of Jesus can still remove distractions from the minds of men, and expel demons, and also take away diseases and produce a complete change of character …. “
Consider this testimony:
“A woman came to see me once when I was in South Africa. She told me that she was suffering from cancer and advanced metastasis and had only a short time to live. Because of this she wanted to make a full confession of her sins before she died. In spite of the fact that her visit to me had no connection with any desire for healing on her own part, I felt constrained to pray that the Lord would in fact heal her body as well as forgive her sins. For this reason I asked another Christian brother to join me and together we prayed for her under the laying on of hands according to James 5:14. Having to leave the country shortly after this, I heard nothing more about the woman until a year and a half later. It was then that the brother with whom I had prayed wrote and told me that instead of dying the woman had been cured by the Lord and was now better. This was another case in which healing had followed the forgiveness of sins. Let me say very quickly though, that I personally do not possess the gift of healing. That I am privileged to experience events of this nature in the course of my Christian service, is only the result of the Lord’s desire to glorify his own name in the life of some suffering person” (Koch, Occult Bondage and Deliverance, pg. 76).
God Is Not A Genie – Precautions About “Ministries” That Emphasize Healing
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” – Matthew 7:15False “teacher” Bill Johnson of Bethel, Redding in California
Another thing that needs to be addressed is that there are some so-called ministries that emphasize God’s miracles such as healing, but neglect to preach sound Biblical doctrine and against sin. Popular “evangelist” Benny Hinn is one example. “Pastor” Bill Johnson of Bethel in Redding, California, is another example. Bill Johnson’s church has a tremendous influence over the Christian community. I live about 500 miles from where his church is located and I have people from where I live – mostly very young people – who are fascinated with their ministry because of their eagerness to experience some supernatural thrills. I don’t believe the living God is working behind that church. Instead, I believe there is a counterfeit spirit working behind that church. I communicated with another deliverance minister to confirm if there is a counterfeit spirit going around in Bethel, and he related to me that he has expelled demons from many people that are associated with their ministry.
I believe God cares far more about the state of a person’s soul than the state of someone’s physical health. Is it better for God to heal a crippled man or for that man to have his sins forgiven? God would rather have a person’s whole heart and devotion to Him than heal the person. Didn’t Jesus say a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign (Luke 11:29; Matt. 16:4)? We should repent and seek God’s will for our lives first and foremost than seek supernatural thrills from God. Such aforementioned “teachers” make out God to be some sort of genie who should grant us our every desire rather than preach and live out the Biblical mandate that we should be slaves to Christ (1 Corinthians 7:22), deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Jesus (Mark 8:34). Biblical healing is done through the power of God; it cannot be taught, and it depends ultimately on God’s will. God cannot be cajoled to heal, as some “miracle healing services” would have us suppose.
Source and with more information dealing with supernatural healing.
If you have bad experiences involving Bethel or churches yoked with Bethel please share.
2 thoughts on “Beware of Bethel: A Hyper-Charismatic Cult”
I was just at teen challenge in Watsonville California that opened up and that place seemed like an occult and they opened last august2021 and they played Bethal music in morning worship.Ran by a man named Mike Borden and there were women 4 staff who listened to him he’s the executive director and pastor who makes all decisions there by having these women carry out his ideas with dealing with students individually.so these women the staff are doing everything this man tells them to.and they believe “in the power of prayer”.there very abusive and I seen many women leave crying from there and all saying it’s an a cult I heard that a few years back too and found out myself it is from how I was treated,in my heart I felt and experienced its an a cult for sure.the only women running it are from Susanville and redding and it’s a very creepy they took us to an event made us learn song in one day get on stage and sing these two Christian songs and recorded us and that day the pastor prayed that teen challenge students be filled with supernatural powers it was some big church in elkgrove sacramento.very strange they were telling us to raise our hands while the pastor on stagege was praying for us to be gifted with supernatural powers this was in March or April just this year and yes every girl that went to Teen challenge in Watsonville aka graceharbor left because they felt it was an occult I recently left to.I believe that place is evil and those women staff running it from Redding Susanville happyville are definitely surely not christian leaders.they are working for Satan and descreteing the purpose of what the community is believing there doing inside that building they built the building with no windows and only teach from new age kings james to there students they won’t allow them to read from different bibles and they don’t take the students for walks outside.i looked up occult in dictionarywhile at teen challenge and it says to keep hidden from sight.ive also seen documentary about occult before in my life in past that’s also how I knew what I was feeling and experiencing there wasn’t right.-J
An example of the foolishness that has gone on in the church. The Bible reads to not lay hands suddenly on no man (1 Tim. 5:22) but that is what they exactly do. Moreover, the Bible reads to do things in decently and order (1 Cor. 14:44). And nowhere will you find any scripture to walk through a “fire tunnel.”
Jesus Truth Deliverance 
I was just at teen challenge in Watsonville California that opened up and that place seemed like an occult and they opened last august2021 and they played Bethal music in morning worship.Ran by a man named Mike Borden and there were women 4 staff who listened to him he’s the executive director and pastor who makes all decisions there by having these women carry out his ideas with dealing with students individually.so these women the staff are doing everything this man tells them to.and they believe “in the power of prayer”.there very abusive and I seen many women leave crying from there and all saying it’s an a cult I heard that a few years back too and found out myself it is from how I was treated,in my heart I felt and experienced its an a cult for sure.the only women running it are from Susanville and redding and it’s a very creepy they took us to an event made us learn song in one day get on stage and sing these two Christian songs and recorded us and that day the pastor prayed that teen challenge students be filled with supernatural powers it was some big church in elkgrove sacramento.very strange they were telling us to raise our hands while the pastor on stagege was praying for us to be gifted with supernatural powers this was in March or April just this year and yes every girl that went to Teen challenge in Watsonville aka graceharbor left because they felt it was an occult I recently left to.I believe that place is evil and those women staff running it from Redding Susanville happyville are definitely surely not christian leaders.they are working for Satan and descreteing the purpose of what the community is believing there doing inside that building they built the building with no windows and only teach from new age kings james to there students they won’t allow them to read from different bibles and they don’t take the students for walks outside.i looked up occult in dictionarywhile at teen challenge and it says to keep hidden from sight.ive also seen documentary about occult before in my life in past that’s also how I knew what I was feeling and experiencing there wasn’t right.-J
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Thanks for sharing.
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