Christian Cults

April 3, 2025

Introduction

In the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 and Luke 21, Jesus warned about false teachers, false prophets,

false Christs. Now when I was a young Christian it had been my basic assumption this meant Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, things like this. I have no doubt that the proliferation of cults that we have seen in the last century, particularly the last 20 years is, in itself, of prophetic significance; I do not question that. But those are not the false teachers and the false prophets He was mainly warning of. He was warning of those who would come in the Last Days, if possible, to deceive the elect. (Mt. 24:24)

Some, of course, have said that it is not possible for the elect to be deceived. That is a lie in itself. Jesus would not warn about something so much if it was not even a possibility it could happen. However, He warned about ones who would come to deceive Christians. If Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses deceive a Christian, it is basically someone who is newly saved who does not know anything. They are not going to get somebody who has been saved three years, four years, or five years, etc.

It Begins with Men

There is a theological definition of “cults” and a sociological definition of “cults”. The two, at some point, inevitably converge.
Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (1 Cor. 1:12-13)

“I of Paul”, “I of Cephas”, “I of Apollos”, “I of Christ”. Those who are saying “I of Christ” were the ones saying, “We do not have any leadership or need for leadership. Jesus is our Leader full-stop. We do not recognize any pastoral authority.” There were some who were saying that while others were saying, “He’s mine, he’s mine, he’s mine”, making a man a guru.

What a cult does is shift the focus onto a man, sometimes even a dead man. There are cults today – and I mean Evangelical cults – which are more popular now than when their founders were alive.

The Assemblies of God rejected the ideas of people like William Branham when he was around. The ideas of E. W. Kenyon were abhorrent to mainstream Pentecostals. The Manifest Sons/Latter Day Rain deceptions – Restorationism, Kingdom Now, and the rest of it – these things were popularly rejected by the mainline Pentecostal denominations including the Assemblies of God in the 40’s and 50’s. They were seen as cultic. Now these things once seen as cultic and heretical have become increasingly mainstream and there are people today who are Branhamites.

The leader of the cult could be a dead person. These are not cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormon cults, these are cults where people believe the true Gospel. When somebody is saved through one of these groups there is a problem. When a Mormon is saved, no problem: Joseph Smith was a false prophet so we know that the whole Mormon church has gone the way of a lie. When a Jehovah’s Witness gets saved, no problem: Charles Taze Russell was a false prophet so we know the whole Watch Tower Society is finished. But when people are born again through a Christian cult there is a big problem with groups which are theologically “churches” but sociologically “cults”.

Eventually these groups which are theologically “churches” but sociologically cutltic become heretical. Eventually these groups get into apostate doctrine. But in the beginning they begin with the true Gospel.

When somebody is born again through one of these groups the leaders or the leader has a tremendous amount of spiritual and psychological influence and even control over people because they really were born again.

I was born again through “The Children of God”. For the first five years of my Christian life I was involved with groups like that. Another one was “The Church of Bible Understanding”. Another Christian cult is called “The Bible Speaks”, sometimes it is called “Greater Grace”. What makes these things so dangerous and so bad is they preach the true Gospel. You cannot write them off entirely the way the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons can be written off entirely. There is a big problem. The people who have been in these groups and the people who have been saved through these groups are in bondage. They are in spiritual and psychological bondage to these groups.

The First Marks of a Cult

Notice the apostles like Paul went against this mentality. Did Paul save you? It is Jesus who saves, it is the Gospel which saves – it is not a church. The Roman Catholic Church claims it is the instrument of salvation, that the sacraments administered by their priests is how people are saved ex opere operato. These groups will preach Christ, but somehow the distinction is not made between the Christ and the cult.

Paul has a go at their first characteristic, something that later in Galatians he calls “a deed of the flesh”. (Gal. 5:19)
“…factions,” (Gal. 5:20)

Sometimes translated “partyism”, perhaps better translated this way as “factions”. The first mark of a cult is what Paul calls “the sin of party spirit”. The sin of party spirit is where the group claims a monopoly on biblical truth. With the party spirit and what will engender the party spirit is some form of Gnosticism, from the Greek word “gnosis” meaning “mystical knowledge”.

The Gnosticism in the Roman Catholic Church is called the sensus plenior – “the fullest sense” of Scripture. Now there is a fuller sense of Scripture, but what they claim is that the pope as an heir of Peter has the infallible insight to define what it is and to determine doctrine on that basis.

In Gnosticism it is not important what the Bible says exegetically, it is important what the leader says about the Bible.

John Wimber’s movement called “The Vineyard Movement” is based on Christian Gnosticism, a heresy in the Early Church. For instance a basic teaching of the Vineyard and theLatter Day Rain Movement and the Kansas City Prophets is Restorationism and what they call “Joel’s Army”.

The run on the cities, they rush on the walls,
Great is the army who carries His word.

This is compared to locusts. In its historical setting this was Nebuchadnezzar’s army, an army God used to judged an unrepentant Judah, but it is also a type of the army of the Antichrist in Revelation. The same locusts in Joel are replayed in Revelation. So whatever this army is in the Last Days it is the army of Antichrist and in Joel 2:20 God says, “I will destroy it. The stench will go up to heaven, I will cast it into the western sea”. The Vineyard Movement teaches that this is them. Anyone desiring to be part of an army God is going to judge and destroy should join the Vineyard Movement; join the Manifest Sons of God or the Latter Day Rain Movement.

It does not matter to them what the Bible says it is, it only matters what the gnosis says it means. “God has shown me.”

Copeland and Hagin both come from Kenyon. Forget about the fact Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished” (Jn. 19:30) and “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit” (Lk. 23:46), the Kenyonites say, “God has shown me that Satan got the victory on the cross, not Jesus. Jesus was tortured in hell for three days and three nights as one nature with Satan and then this demon cum Jesus was born again in hell and rose from the dead.” It is a different “Jesus” and a different gospel denying the Master who bought them.

The Prosperity preachers? “God has shown me.” These things are all cultic.

But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. (1 Pe. 21:20-21)
And right after this we have the Greek word “parasaxousin” – they put truth next to error. They make the interpretations of things like biblical prophecy a matter of their own interpretation. It is not important what the Bible says, it is important what the leader claims it says.

Men Establishing Themselves

When these two things (“party spirit” and Gnosticism) come together, look out – it is inevitable a third thing is going to come.
Jesus hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans. (Rev. 2:6) Historically we cannot be sure who they were. Some have speculated they were followers of someone named Nicolaus who it is speculated was a son of one of the deacons listed in Acts 6, but nobody knows. Those are stories derived from tradition. What we do know is what “Nicolaitinism” means in Greek. “Nico” – “suppression” of “the laity” – the people. The set themselves up as overlords.

Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel…
(Now the Hebrew word for “shepherd” and “pastor” is the same.)

… ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock. Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them. They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered. (Ez. 34:1-5)
Biblical leadership is by example, not lording it over others. Jesus castigated the Pharisees for this, yet it got into the Early Church.

When “party spirit” is present it is usually attached to something called “Gnosticism”. “Oh, but he understands the Bible better than we do.”

There was one case where the guy went totally nuts and said things that were utterly heretical, yet he did have a lot of insight into the Bible. Beware of leaders who believe their own publicity. When somebody who is genuinely gifted allows people to put them on a pedestal, look out. “We don’t understand what he’s doing, but he’s closer to God than we are. He has more insight.” That may be true, but when that person is observed doing things directly contrary to Scripture, “Choose this day whom you will serve.” (Joshua 24:15) But by that point they are usually too far in bondage.

The next thing is Nicolaitanism, the heavy shepherding. “Who are you to question us? Who are you to challenge us? You have a spirit of rebellion.”

The Personality Type of a Cult Leader

I am sure a forensic psychiatrist would tell you the same thing, but the personality type of a cult leader is virtually identical to the personality type of a dictator. There have been forensic psychological autopsies on many dictators including Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin. When a team did the forensic analysis on the personality of Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin in the 1940’s for the British and American allies, they were united in agreement that neither Hitler nor Stalin would have had the guts to fight in the Battle of Stalingrad or the Battle of the Bulge, and certainly would not have been able to stomach doing themselves what they had others doing in concentration camps.

Cult leaders are like dictators – they are personally insecure. A cult leader is a personally insecure person who surround their self with others who are more insecure than they are so that he may control them and, through them, go to the people. A cult leader will very rarely deal with someone without his honchos with him to shout them down. A cult leader will send one of his parakeets who will basically just ape everything the cult leaders tells them. The cult leader is insecure and his agents, his deputies, will always be insecure people who are easily manipulated.

Not everybody is the same, but one thing is for sure: when someone is born again they begin to change spiritually. And as they change spiritually they will change psychologically. God changes people from the inside out. As they grow in Jesus they become secure in Christ and then become secure in who they are in Christ. In a Christian cult this fails to happen, groups which in the beginning are theologically “churches” but sociologically “cults”. The people do not become secure in Christ. Their security becomes based on this relationship to the leader. It is only a matter of degrees, but they are all the same.

The only difference between most of the house church movements who are into Restoration theology is a matter of degrees as to how cultic they are. They all go the same way. The only thing different about Jehovah’s Witnesses or David Koresh is they have gone further down the road. Given enough time, although these churches are theologically “churches” and only sociologically “cults”, they will get into heretical doctrine. Not just minor error, but some kind of fundamental error. “The Children of God” did that, “The Church of Bible Understanding” did that, and given enough time such will engage in doctrinal error. But that is only the beginning.

These people are insecure so they will fear people who know things they do not.

We should not make a god out of education by any means. Apollos and Paul were formally educated, Peter and John were not. Yet the apostolic authority possessed by Peter and John was no less than Paul’s. However, as Peter says in his epistle, “These things are complicated; it is better for Paul to explain them”. (2 Pe. 3:15-16)

Once somebody’s background – their intellect – has been crucified, once a believer learns to trust Christ and not their intellect, their intellect becomes a very good servant. “Intellect” is a good servant but a dangerous master; but “ignorance” is a deadly master. “Intellect” is a good servant but a bad master; “ignorance” is not only a bad servant and an even more deadly master.
These people will be found to automatically demean anything like a seminary or a Bible college, somebody who reads Greek – they will fear such people. They will have to demean them and put them down within their group and get others to laugh at them because they know they have encountered someone who knows something they do not. They know because someone can read the original Greek or Hebrew or been to seminary are a threat to them. It is much the same with dictators: they fear people who know something they do not so they have to demean it. “You don’t need this!” And they will point out things that are in and of themselves true: “Look at how the universities are filled with Ph.D.’s who know Greek and Hebrew who themselves are on their way to hell; they’re not even saved!” They will play that angle up, but they will not look at the other side of the coin. They will only emphasize things which suit their purpose to control people.

When dealing with the leader of a cult one is dealing with a personally insecure person who can only control people by making them insecure.

Beyond Doctrinal Error

Ultimately they will come to this doctrinal error themselves, but inevitably at some point one of two things, if not both, will occur, the first being financial misconduct as described in Ezekiel 34. “You butcher the sheep to eat well yourself, but look how they live”.
One example in America owned five airplanes and took holidays in the Bahamas with his second wife while the people were living in rat-infested slums in high-crime neighborhoods. Some lived in the worst neighborhoods in New York City cleaning carpets 14 hours a day giving all the money to the cult while saying it was supposedly for the children in Haiti. Well maybe some of it was, but it was also for five airplanes that only he and his wife flew.

Financial misconduct is the first. Almost inevitably that disparity will be found to exist. They give themselves a lifestyle they probably could not get in the secular world because they would not be clever enough, much like most of the Pentecostal ministers today. 90% of the Pentecostal ministers would not have the lifestyle they have if they were not Pentecostal ministers. They would not be good enough to make it in a secular business trade or profession.

The second eventually found with these people in most cases is sexual misconduct – immorality. It may go on secretly for some time before it is uncovered.

In the short-term of a cult, these are the warning signs to get out. There will be the sin of “party spirit” in some way related to Gnosticism. They will claim some slant on doctrine which others do not see and followers have to be initiated into it. Eventually it will be discovered that if people do not get out then, they will find financial impropriety and exploitation. Very often they will twist the Bible’s teaching on topics like tithing to do this. And there will be immorality, usually of a sexual nature, sometimes even of a deviant sexual nature.

How This Comes About

Before Satan paganized the church in the 4th Century, we know from the New Testament his first trick was to Judaize it. This is not the same as “Jewish-ize” because the church isJewish theologically. Israel is the natural root. (Rom. 11) We should understand the Scriptures from a Judeo-Christian perspective, not a Hellenistic one. The Lord revealed His given Word through His people, a nation with a given culture, and we have to understand that. It is necessary to theologically understand biblical Judaism to understand biblical Christianity. Jesus fulfills the Law. Satan’s first seduction was to put people back under the Law instead of the Law pointing to Christ.

This has nothing to do with observances. As a family who are Israeli Jews whose children were born in Galilee, we keep the Passover for reasons of culture and testimony to unsaved Jews. There’s a Mezuzah on the door, we even speak Hebrew at home. We have Hanukkah, we have Purim, we have all the Jewish feasts. We go to a church on Sunday but a Messianic fellowship on Saturday – Shabbat. This is not about people who are culturally Jewish keeping their own culture to witness to Jews in their own culture, that is not wrong. Neither is witnessing to Jews by people adopting that culture for testimonial reasons as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9. The issue is when someone either says it is necessary for salvation or for sanctification. “Well, you might be saved by grace, but…”

When it is asserted that it is necessary for salvation that is “legalism”. When asserting it is necessary for sanctification, where one is saved by Jesus but they also have to do “this”, “this”, and “this”, that is known as “nomianism” from the Greek word “nomos”.
Today there are two kinds of groups to be aware of who are trying to live under two covenants. One is the extreme axis of the Messianic Movement. This does not encompass the good Messianic Bible teachers such as Arnold Fruchtenbaum or people who help Christians understand the Jewish background of the New Testament. This does not involve those who worship in a Jewish cultural framework in order to evangelize Jews. The issue is with those who try to make people keep the Law in a compulsory way.

David Kriss is a dangerous, dangerous man located in Melbourne. But he is not the only Messianic extremist. In England they had Philip Sharp who wound up in jail. He abandoned his Israeli wife and children and had the people crown him King Messiah in a meeting. He’s a “Messianic Jewish Rabbi”. Some of these guys are nuts. There is some kind of Halachic community in Queensland I would not go near with a barge pole.

Again, this does not include the likes of Arnold Fruchtenbaum or Art Katz. This is not about the good guys but the nuts. But it is not only Messianic Jews who are doing this, out to rebuild the wall of partition. There is another group of people who are trying to live under two covenants: Seventh-day Adventists. Most of the followers of David Koresh were Seventh-day Adventists.

Once people get into one serious, fundamental doctrinal error like trying to live under two covenants, they become automatically prone to a more serious one. Once people accommodate one fundamental doctrinal error they automatically predispose themselves to something more serious and even more dangerous. It is only a matter of degrees.

It is hard to believe what went on when reading about Koresh, but there have been Evangelical cults that could get people to do things that are unbelievable. When the tragedy with Koresh occurred, 129 pages of Internet material were downloaded and read very carefully. David Koresh followed this pattern to a “T”. Remember, Seventh-day Adventists claim to be born again or at least saved, but there is a lot of false doctrine: the “party spirit”, the Nicolaitinism, and all the rest – going under the Law. He would hold 13 hour Bible studies always about the book of Revelation and always about himself. He would become violently angry, throwing chairs and things if people did not pay attention or fell asleep during the Bible studies. These Bible studies were all designed to brainwash people for a coming apocalyptic cataclysm of some description in which they were led to believe by insinuation, by nuance – never directly stated – that their salvation would come about through their relationship with him in this coming fate.
They were so brainwashed that when they shot it out with the FBI they believed that was this coming event in Revelation. But it did not begin that way. What will make people do this? He had to become the sole authority figure. He had these people believing that he was semi-divine. Talk about a Gnostic! Only his semen was divinely imbued, so only heshould procreate children. He did not want husbands to be respected by their wives and children, so he got into this whole humiliation thing. He wanted people to only recognizehis authority. He would have an attractive woman stand up in a meeting and make her lift up her dress then point to the men, “Who’s been aroused by this?” And then he would begin castigating them publicly for lust. They guy was a nut.

He had a boudoir upstairs while the men slept in military style barracks and only the women would go up, whichever one he summoned. Except these were not always adult women – there were children as young as 11. Many of those people who were killed were undoubtedly people he sired. So he had to berate these men so their wives would not look upon them as a spiritual authority.

Then he would humiliate women. He would do that differently. He made these Seventh-day Adventist style dietary rules which he would modify periodically. So if they went out and bought the wrong kind of chicken or something he would scream at the top of his lungs then post a list. Whichever names of the women were found on the list would be queued up, stripped, and beaten with a paddle. They would queue up every day if their names was on the list. Then they would have to come out undressed in front of their children and he would say, “Do you see what happens to bad mommies?”

How did he get them to do this? Once someone can get people to give them their 11 year-old daughter it is a natural next step that they will die for that person. How did it begin? One serious false doctrine. Once someone gets into one serious false doctrine they become predisposed to another one.

When reading something like Kingdom of the Cults and some of the stuff Joseph Smith did (another sex pervert), perverted sex is a big thing among cults.

The true Mormons are the fundamentalist ones. They are the ones who truly follow Brigham Young and Joseph Smith. Moriel USA was doing an outreach to Mormons at Manti, Utah and I met one with eight wives. How did these guys get these women to go along with this? It was not hard to understand because guess how old they were when they married them? These guys are pedophiles – that is how they do it.

When the Saved Do the Same Things

But there is something even more frightening than David Koresh or the Mormons. What about born again Christians – saved Christians, who did the same thing?

It was on the front page of the New York Post in 1978. A cult which broke away from the Lutheran church in Minnesota, Evangelical Lutherans, were putting children into a metal chair, tying them down and giving them electric shocks for not paying attention in Sunday School and the parents would stand there watching the teachers electrocute the kids.
There was another one in California that would beat people to drive the demons out of them. The people would allow themselves to be beaten.

There was a young girl in England, a law student, who came to a few of our Bible studies who was originally from Gibraltar. She spoke Spanish. She graduated and became involved with a cult called Raima. Because she spoke Spanish they sent her to Chicago to the Spanish-speaking ghettos. Her friends told me they were really concerned about this group. They had good reason to be concerned. These were saved Christians, but the same pattern of Gnosticism, heavy shepherding, Nicolaitinism, and all the money went to the group. Because she was bilingual and well-educated she had more freedom than other women in the group. She was allowed to come out to meet me and my wife.

In this group the leaders were telling people who were clean to by faith marry people who were HIV-positive and just trust the Lord. They were marrying people with AIDS. They were contracting AIDS. Babies were born HIV-positive. People were dying.

Their leaders arranged marriages and they actually signed their own death certificates with their marriage certificates and they died. These were born again.

I took her to meet my wife, I talked to her, I phoned her parents in England. I took her to a rescue mission and said, “Lock her up, don’t let her out of here. I’ll be back tomorrow.” I gave them $50 or whatever and got an airline ticket back to England. I took her to O’Hare Airport after calling her parents and told her, “If I catch you on this side of the Atlantic again, lady, that’s 12-1/2 extra wide – guess what I’m going to do with it?”

They were telling people to marry people who were HIV! How do they get this kind of control? It did not happen overnight, it began with “party spirit” connected to Gnosticism connected to Nicolaitanism.

Taking It a Step Further

Once it is forgotten that Jesus is our wisdom (1 Cor. 1:30) they begin looking to a man for the wisdom. When believers stop being a Berean, when they stop testing things, they forfeit to that person a kind of control over their life that God never wanted anybody to have except Himself. (Even He never forces Himself that way or manipulates.)

It gets to the point where even if they say and do things not biblical, people will not question. Even if the say and do things which are immoral, people will not question. They lose their capacity to think rationally. Again, it only becomes a matter of degrees between the so-called “Christian” cults and the ones which are obviously pseudo-Christian.

While in Utah last year the Mormons all had these t-shirts which read, “Brigham Young said it, I believe it, that settles it”. Now whenever a Jehovah’s Witness is cornered they change the subject; that is what they are trained to do. A Mormon will revert to their testimony, the subjective proclamation, “I have a burden in my bosom and I testify to you that the Church of Latter-Day Saints is true”. That is supposed to settle every issue. No matter how many logical arguments you confront them with which they cannot answer, their testimony is supposed to be the ultimate explanation. It is completely subjective.

The Mormons came into Utah while we were there and I said, “I like your shirt” and they said, “Hallelujah” or whatever, to which I said, “So you believe there are Quakers living on the moon? You said if Brigham Young said it, you believe it. This man believes there are Quakers on the moon because Brigham Young said it!” Here it is, straight from the Mormon church’s Journal of Discourses where Brigham Young and Joseph Smith said there were Quakers living on the moon to be a thousand years old. And Brigham Young said they’re on the sun, too.

I saw a black guy and said, “You know what? The New Testament says the first non-Jew to accept Christ was a black African from Ethiopia. The first person not from any Jewish background whom Jesus saved was a black man. But do you know what the Mormon Church says, what Brigham Young said about you? You are a descendant of fallen angels, you are ugly, mischievous, and a depraved nigger. Who do you want to follow: Jesus who loves you or a Mormon who says you are ugly, mischievous, depraved, the descendant of fallen angels, and who calls you racist names? Here, Brigham Young said it! You will believe it according to your shirt! This man is ugly, mischievous, and depraved because God made him black!” And how did the Mormon reply? “I testify to you I have a burning in my bosom! I know the Church of Latter-Day Saints is true!” And what did I say to him? “I have a burning in my bosom and I testify to you I know there’s Quakers a-livin’ on the moon!”

Logic goes out the window. The plain teaching of Scripture goes out the same window. Subjectivism steps in.

A Sobering Thought

The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. (1 Pe. 4:7)

Remember the video of Rodney Howard-Browne and Copeland where they advise, “Just get drunk, don’t pray”?
Therefore, prepare your minds for action…

…be drunk in spirit?

…keep sober in spirit… (1 Pe. 1:13)

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Pe. 5:8)

I was once riding in a 4 x 4 near Victoria Falls along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe on my way to a speaking engagement at a church. We were going through the bush – lion country, and could see a giraffe. The person driving said, “It’s getting dark now, at this time of night lions go after that kind of giraffe.” So I am looking out for lions and all of the sudden there goes the wheel. “Be sober in spirit. The lion is trying to get you.” If I ever wanted some whiskey it was then. This was no Tarzan movie. This was the real bush in real Africa with real lions, it was getting dark, and I was scared. Admittedly I could only say two things: “Lord Jesus” and “Jack Daniels”. But the last thing I needed to be was in an inebriated state where I would not be vigilant.
Three times Peter says, “Be sober”. Paul warns, “But you, be sober”. (2 Ti. 4:5) In fact this same Peter whom they quote in Toronto meetings they were drunk on the day of Pentecost says these men are not drunk. (Acts 2:15) They heard the mighty deeds of God, not drunken hysterics. So they are shown that the Bible says to be sober repeatedly and not drunk in the Spirit as Rodney Howard-Browne is teaching.

The pastor of Faithland in Melbourne was not into Toronto but had five friends who were – five Pentecostal ministers. Some of their churches I have spoken at in times past and they are all into Rodney Howard-Browne. I showed them the videos of Howard-Browne and Copeland in Toronto and they could not defend what was on it. They knew it was heretical, they knew it was carnal and even demonic, but they still insisted they were going to Toronto to see Howard-Browne. Why? They were not “blind”, they were willfullyblind. These were the leaders, misleading whole congregations! Jesus Christ will hold them accountable as shepherds as it says in 1 Peter 5 for misleading the flock.

The fruit of the Spirit is egkrateia in Greek – “self-control”. (Gal. 5:22-23) So this is shown to them along with what it says in Peter: “Be sober”, “Be sober”, “Be sober”. But look at their answer. Did they answer biblically? No. Did they answer logically? No. Did they answer cultically? Yes. “I was blessed! I know it was right because of what happened to me!” What does a Mormon say? “I got a burnin’ in my bosom and I know it’s true!” It is not logical. Logic goes out the same window with the Bible. It is only a matter of degrees.

There is not much difference any more between the Assemblies of God and the Mormons, they have gone the same way, just further down the same road. Now there are some good, individual Assembly of God churches; I think they need to come out, in my opinion. They are going down the same road. It is just a matter that one is further down the road than the other.

Further Down the Same Road

The psychological bondage which happens has a demonic character. When the people leave they are automatically ostracized by the other people still in the cult. It is like Catholicism. You left the one true church so it is a mortal sin, go to hell, go directly to hell, do not pass “Go”, do not collect $200. That is it – the unpardonable sin. The other people will turn against those leaving because those leaving are free while those remaining are in bondage. But are they free? No they are not, not right away.

A person can be taken out of the cult but they are so confused and have been so hurt and manipulated it takes a longer time to take the cult out of the person. It is like that rock songHotel California – “you can check out any time you want but you can never leave”. The person can be taken out of the cult but to take the cult out of them is not so easy. They remain in psychological and spiritual bondage to it, particularly if they were saved in it. And they cannot be accommodated in other churches because other churches cannot understand what they went through. There is a secret fear that they have, “What if they were right?” This battle takes place within and sometimes it goes on for years.

Sometimes people have had nervous breakdowns and become mentally ill because of it. Some have turned to alcoholism and drugs. Some have committed suicide. Marriages have broken up because of it.

Another common phenomena is they have been so hurt and so burned they can never trust another church or another leader again. The solution to a bad church then becomes no church. The solution to bad leadership becomes no leadership. Actually the right solution to wrong leadership is right leadership, and the solution to bad church is good church. But they cannot accept that. Others do not understand what they have been through. No one understands what is going on inside of them. They can come to a church but they do not fit in until something happens. It takes time for that to happen, but it eventually happens.

This is a big problem and it is getting bigger. And before Jesus comes back it will be bigger still.

First formulated by a social psychologist named Leon Festinger, he was interested in the social psychology of religion and he identified the phenomena called “cognitive dissonance”. I do not know if he was a Christian or not, but even secular sociology and psychology can see the phenomena. Cognitive dissonance states when people become cemented to a sect with this heavy control by the leadership, and the leaders make predictive prophecies which fail to happen, instead of the people using their noggin and coming out, they will become even more committed to the sect.

One of the things to do when the Jehovah’s Witnesses come to the door is to show them back copies of The Watchtower where their leaders have predicted things which have failed to happen. You can show them from The Watchtower and Awake magazines where it quotes Deuteronomy 18, “Those predicting things in God’s name that don’t happen are false prophets”. (Dt. 18:22) They can be shown this from their own literature quoting the Bible. But when logic goes out the window, the Bible goes out the window. They cannot see it.

What can be done with the fact that men like Gerald Coates predicted an earthquake in New Zealand that never happened? In the Elim cult all forty-four churches were taking survival course lessons or something like that.

What do you do with the fact that Rick Joyner has made major predictions in his book The Harvest which failed to happen? He said Communism was going to be triumphant and five months later the Iron Curtain came down.

What do you do with the Kansas City Prophets, men like Paul Cain and Mike Bickle who said the greatest revival in Britain’s history would come to Great Britain in October of 1990 and fan out to Germany? In the last 10 years more mosques have been built in England than churches.

What about men who are proven false prophets such as Benny Hinn prophesying falsely in New Zealand, or Rodney Howard-Browne seen on TV in Australia with Phil Pringle predicting revival that did not come? What do you do with these men who make predictions that do not happen? Deuteronomy 18 says to get away from them, do not be afraid of them, and have nothing to do with them. In a cult, though, it does not matter.

Is there any difference between what the Jehovah’s Witnesses or the Mormons do and the people who will still listen to Benny Hinn or Rodney Howard-Browne? No, there is no difference. They have only gone further down the same road. This is known as “cognitive dissonance”. Even secular psychology can identify it. Even the world sees it for what it is. They become even more committed to it.

They will always make an excuse to defend it or set another date or something like this. Then when that does not happen they will get that wrong, the same as the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

These guys have been predicting revival for years. No revival comes so they predict another one. If Toronto does not come we will get the Alpha. If the Alpha does not work we will get the Pensacola. When Pensecola does not work we will get Pepsi-Cola®. When that doesn’t work we will try Seven-Up®. It does not matter. There will always be the next fad. People will swallow anything. Why? Because they have become incorporated into a cult. It is cultic. It is following men.

“Yeah, but the Word of God says I shouldn’t listen to you anymore.” It does not matter to them because they are in bondage and it is terrible. Saved Christians are dead, Families and marriages have been destroyed by these kinds of people.

Not only that but these people are frauds and Charlatans themselves! They are highly insecure and usually do not know a fraction of what they want you to think they know. They fear anybody who does know more than they do. That is why they will demean any kind of education or learning. They are as bad at one extreme as those who lift it up and make a god of it on the other.
It is like what Arnold Fruchtenbaum says, “I don’t care if you are Plymouth Brethren, I don’t care if you are Open Brethren, I don’t care; but don’t be ignorant brethren.”

In the Same Manner as the Sanhedrin

If somebody was saved through this and it was the only thing they ever knew, it is understandable how this could happen to them. But what happens when people get into this who are not saved through it? That is even worse in terms of being even more pathetic.

Suppose you have been in one of these groups. It will follow the same pattern shown here. The way the leader operates, the fear of knowledge – anyone who knows what he does not, using others to be his messengers, he has some special insight into the Bible where if someone does not see it they are into rebellion because they do not submit to his authority, others turn against you to put you under condemnation or put a curse on you. (They will always tell you about the people who left the group and died; they will not tell you about the ones who stayed and died.) They are very selective about how they handle things. These people operate just like the Sanhedrin.

Jesus said to the Sanhedrin, “Why do you arrest Me and bring Me in here for a kangaroo trial? Why didn’t you come after Me in the Temple where everyone could see it?” These guys will never openly debate in front of a video camera or in an auditorium in front of the open public; it always has to be in front of their cronies.

Michael Brown, the deceiver of Pensacola, a so-called theologian and great Hebrew scholar, when I talked with him discovered he could not even speak a word of Hebrew. He came to Israel some years earlier saying that the national forest fires which destroyed 22% of Israel’s forests was the emblem of God’s Holy Spirit being poured out on Israel. He had people waiting up all night for the second Pentecost. He was supposed to debate me about Pensecola. The date was made at a church near New York mid-week so people could come from any church without missing their own church, a neutral venue. He finds out I have the Joe Chambers videos where Kilpatrick is caught lying about the vibrating girl and right away he cancels the debate, demanding it be held at a Pensecola place on a Sunday night. Why? Because cult leaders will only fight you on their own turf.

It will always be like the Sanhedrin putting Jesus on trial. They will never stand openly. It has to be only where they control people. They will never go into a fair fight; they do not have the ability or the guts. These are insecure people. That is how they operate. It is like being afraid of a tiger with no teeth. These people are frauds.

Recovery

Sometimes it takes months, sometimes it has even taken people years to take that person out of that central role in their life and put Christ in that role instead. These people are in unspeakable bondage. And unless you have been in that bondage you do not understand where they are coming from. You will not even be able to grasp what their problem is. Why can they not fit in?

Not only that, but they will even say a lot of true things. “The church is lukewarm.” “The cult was more zealous.” “You are Laodicea.” Well, that is true. That is the danger. They are not just telling “lie” lies, they are telling Satan’s lies – perversions of truth. But look at the results, look at the damage; it can be found every time.

They begin sociologically as “cults”, theologically “churches”, but give them a few years – not more than ten. Then you will find heresy, you will find financial corruption, you will find immorality. But maybe at the end of it you will find Jesus.
If you are in bondage to one of these groups the Bible says…

“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”. (2 Corinthians 3:17)

By virtue of the fact you are in bondage tells you that is not God’s Spirit.. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”. If you are in bondage that tells you it is not of God’s Spirit – it is a different spirit: a “party spirit”, a deed of the flesh, a sin, the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit. The deeds of the flesh are the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit. You are in bondage.

It might take a couple of months and sometimes it has even taken people a couple of years, but the sum of the matter is this: you keep your eyes on Jesus and one verse will become a reality like you have never known.

“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. (Jn. 8:36)

God bless. <img src=

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Staying the course amidst isolation

By David Passmore • May 30, 2026

Staying The Course Amidst Isolation Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM Living in Israel one gets the feeling that the metaphorical walls are closing in. Israel's reputation is being tarnished all over social media and the mainstream media, and this is reflected in massive public disdain towards this country. We are constantly told that there is near consensus amongst academics and commentators that a genocide was committed in Gaza. The very legitimacy of the state is brought into question. The majority of Americans are now hostile towards Israel. There is real fear that the next U.S. administration will turn against Israel. Even if this were to happen passively, by the U.S. refraining from exercising its veto power towards Security Council Resolutions condemning Israeli actions this could be catastrophic. Internally it is a fractured society leaning increasingly right wing which further alienates Israel from world opinion. An example in point is how Ben Gvir mocked the most recent participants of a global aid flotilla to Gaza. Such conduct further agitates outrage at Israel. The left-wing media presents the ruins of Gaza as a mortal wound in Israel's side. When the world observes this level of carnage no degree of public relations can ameliorate the sense of indignation towards Israel. We can liken the situation of Israel to that of a depressed person. All he sees is hopelessness and gloom. But this isn't the first time that the Jewish nation has been faced with such darkness. Things change and we don't know how the geo-political map will reconfigure in the future. We need to ride out this storm and keep going. On a historical note, the situation is reminiscent of what our ancestors faced when we returned from the Babylonian exile to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah was faced with constant lies and conspiracies designed to entrap him by hostile actors: Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arab. They employed deception, slander and ridicule in order to maintain their political eminence. There was also a certain sense of abandonment amongst the Jews in Israel then as in our own day. We read in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah about the anguish of the leadership in Israel concerning the lack of assistance from the Babylonian diaspora towards the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem and the Temple. Only 20% of the exiles returned to the land. It was largely the poor who returned. Most of the affluent, established Jews remained in Exile. This is a continuing theme in Jewish history. It is also important to observe that from its very beginnings there were bible believing Christians who spearheaded the return of the Jews to their land. The idea of organizing a return of the Jews to Israel began as a Protestant Restorationist objective that can be traced to 17th century Puritan England. The protagonists of the Cromwellian Republic viewed themselves as the new Israel fighting the Papist forces of Satan. Alongside this, interest grew in the notion that biblical prophecies pertaining to the return of the Jews to Israel were a necessary precursor for the return of Christ. The growth of the British Empire in the 19th century lent political clout to Christian Restorationism with specific missions to the Jews established. Although there had been a longing to return to Israel as written in the thrice daily Amidah prayer, Jewish Zionism arose in the midst of mid nineteenth century nationalism and was further fermented by European antisemitism. It was an altogether secular enterprise. Although Israel's situation appears rather stark, we can draw strength from the Providence afforded to our ancestors in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah when they too were faced with defamation. This is also an opportunity to grow closer to our natural allies in the evangelical world who from the beginning of Zionism were steadfast supporters of the project to establish a Jewish homeland in Israel. (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).

Signs of the Times - Tony Pearce

By David Passmore • May 25, 2026

Signs of the Times Tony Pearce ‍ ‍ Left, right or center – is our democracy in danger “Things fall apart, the center does not hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.” W.B Yeats ‘The Second Coming. ’ ‍ ‍ Labour’s losses in the council elections and the battle for succession to their unpopular leader Kier Starmer have raised the possibility that we may soon have our seventh Prime Minister in ten years. Local elections saw Reform and the Greens make sweeping gains, leading Green Party leader, Zack Polanski to say that we are seeing ‘the end of the old two party system’. Maybe we are. In which case what comes next? Will we head to the far left, the far right or will the center hold on to power? Or will it end with ungovernable chaos as unqualified people take control of local and national government? Behind all this there are fundamental questions, ‘What is government for? Who does it represent and where is it going?’ ‍ ‍‍ ‍ According to the Bible (Romans 13) the purpose of government is to promote good and restrain evil. The government has the right to raise taxes for the common good of society and people should pay them. In 1 Timothy 2 Paul encourages us to pray for the government that ‘we may live a godly and peaceable life’. In other words, pray that the government will create an orderly and peaceful society and not interfere with our right to set up communities that teach and preach the Word of God. The situation becomes more difficult when we see government promoting things which are harmful and restraining things which are good and clamping down on freedom of speech with a threat to our ability to live a ‘godly and peaceable life’ ‍ Since becoming a Christian in my early twenties, I have wrestled with the question of how our faith applies to contemporary political issues. I started this quest on the left politically after leaving university and working as an English teacher with sympathies for Marxism. I then became a born again Christian in 1970, and joined my late wife Nikki in evangelizing the radical left, by handing out leaflets at their marches and demonstrations in London and attending their meetings to discuss matters of faith and politics with them. ‍ ‍‍ ‍ We had some good discussions with people and hope we made some consider the Christian alternative. However as we looked at Marxism from a Christian point of view and its practice in Communist countries, we understood that behind this ideology there is a strong anti-christian spirit. It denies the existence of God and promotes the idea of human perfectibility by our own effort. This is exemplified in the words of the Internationale, the socialist battle hymn, ‘No saviour from on high delivers, no faith have we in prince or peer, our own right hand the chains will shiver, chains of hatred, greed and fear.’ This Antichrist spirit led to the persecution of Christians in the Communist countries of eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and China. Far from creating the socialist paradise on earth that Lenin wrote about in ‘Socialism and Religion’, it created a society ruled by hatred, greed and fear, controlled by secret police, prison camps and responsible for the death of millions. ‍ ‍ In western society we have witnessed the growth of ‘cultural Marxism’ a movement aimed at infiltrating and changing society from within, rather than fomenting the workers’ revolution. Labour’s Fabian Society, with its (now discarded) logo of the wolf in sheep’s clothing, has been engaged in this process since the beginning of the 20th century. Social change really took off with the permissive society in the 1960s, which succeeded in changing traditional values, especially in the area of sex and the family. It replaced biblical values with a new ‘morality’ that is fundamentally anti Christian. These ideas have permeated large swathes of our society including the education system, the judiciary, the Civil Service, much of the media, mainstream political parties (including even the Conservative ‘wets’ and parts of the established church). ‍ ‍ Melanie Phillips describes the results of this in her book, ‘The Builder’s Stone.’ ‘Having decided that the West was rotten to the core, western elites set out to create a new culture that would usher in the brotherhood of man and eradicate hatred, prejudice, and war. Their Brave New World junked biblical religion with all its constraints on behaviour and revolved instead around self gratification. Everybody had the right to live as they wanted; nobody could say that their way of life was better or worse than anyone else’s; no one had the right to say that their culture was better than any other culture. That was ‘racism.’ At the heart of all this was the doctrine that there was no such thing as objective truth. Everything was relative; everything was a matter of opinion. Because there was no truth feelings became more important than facts. So the West abandoned the codes of morality, conscience, truth and lies, personal responsibility, and duty to others in favour of a culture of the self. In the process it junked its inherited traditions and biblical codes on which western culture was based.’ ‍ Britain changed from being a society that respected values based on the 10 Commandments and the teaching of Jesus Christ to one that discarded them for relative values. Ideas of ‘diversity, inclusion and equity’ became the norm, together with and a form of ‘tolerance’, that is really very intolerant if you oppose it. This ‘tolerance’ means accepting the virtues of multiculturalism and humanism and believing that all gods are equally valid or true (or none are). We must also accept that all lifestyles and family arrangements including homosexual and transsexual ones are just as valid as traditional two parent heterosexual families, with a father and mother committed to each other in lifelong matrimony looking after their own children. ‍ As society accepts this radical change in how we view culture, morality and religion, we are told not to criticize other cultures and world views or imply that they are anything less than equal to the culture, morality and faith derived from the Bible. ‍ All this has not improved society. Instead we have a collapse of values with no central idea to hold it together, just a group of competing ‘communities’ which are often only united in opposition to the traditional values and culture of Great Britain. A good example of this is the ‘red – green alliance’ of radical leftists and Islamists who come together to denounce Israel and campaign to ‘globalise the Intifada’. In practice this means a world wide war against Israel and Judaeo-Christian society and a desire to replace it with their version of either Islamism or Communism. However if one of them were to come to power, you can be sure that the Islamist’s would get rid of the leftists or vice versa. In fact that happened in Iran’s 1979 revolution, when Islamist supporters of Khomeini and Communists came together to get rid of the Shah. Then the Islamists seized power, turned on the Communists and wiped them out. ‍ Alisteir Heath wrote in the Daily Telegraph: ‘Ruined by decades of political vandalism, the Britain we knew and loved, a land of stability, pragmatism, and ancient freedoms, is no more. Today’s UK is uglier, impoverished, volatile and disorderly. We’ve lost our level-headedness. Anger and frustration have become our defining emotions. Our institutions have wasted away, and we have been taught to despise our history. The decline of family, community and faith have led to alienation, dependence on welfare and the rise of novel ideologies, mostly secular but also sectarian, turbocharged by social media. While the state becomes unnervingly authoritarian, the air reeks of insurrection and every variety of extremism. The British public’s sense of betrayal is as well-founded as it is dangerous. The machinery of state is incompetent and self-serving, a vehicle for social engineering in the global interest.’ ‍ ‍ ‍ Criticism of this process now risks being classed as ‘hate crime’ with a growing authoritarian society monitoring social media posts and public teaching of alternative ideas in ways which risk shutting down free speech in our society. A Christian teacher Enoch Burke is currently in prison in Dublin after he was suspended from his job and jailed after refusing to accept and teach transgenderism in the school. ‍ ‍ ‍ Nick Timothy, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, got into trouble when he questioned mass Muslim prayer in Trafalgar Square. He wrote: ‘Mass ritual prayer in public places is an act of domination. The adhan – which declares there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger – is, when called in a public place, a declaration of domination. The domination of public places is straight from the Islamist playbook.” He is right in this. Allah hu Akhbar actually means Allah is greater, greater than your God, Muhammad is greater than Jesus and the Koran is greater than the Bible. ‍ ‍ ‍ Tim Dieppe of Christian Concern for our Nation wrote: “The fact that we have mass Islamic prayer in Trafalgar Square at all is indicative of the massive culture change that we have seen in the last few decades. A culture change that was not voted for or ever agreed to by the British people. And, a culture change that can hardly be described as having been entirely beneficial to our culture as a whole. I only need to mention grooming gangs involving mostly Pakistani Muslim men , sharia courts, honour crimes, terror attacks, the assassination of an MP, an attempt to blockade Parliament, mass antisemitic marches through London, a convicted terrorist standing for local elections, sectarianism, and many other examples to make the point. Earlier this month, the Government gave Muslims special protection with the adoption of an official definition of anti-Muslim hostility .” ‍ ‍ ‍ You are not really supposed to question this in public life today. A message circulating on social media is an apt commentary on all this. ‘First they overlook evil, then they permit evil, then they legalise evil, then they promote evil, then celebrate evil, then persecute those who call it evil.’ Soviet dissident Solzhenitsyn wrote: ‘A Communist system can be recognised by how it spares criminals and criminalises its opponents.’ ‍ ‍ ‍ The root cause of all this is the rejection of God and biblical values. The 18th-century French philosopher Joseph de Maistre coined the phrase "people get the government they deserve." David Pawson followed up on this idea, arguing that in democratic societies like ours, the moral and spiritual condition of a nation's citizens is directly reflected in the leaders they elect. If the general public abandons moral truths, they will inevitably vote for governments that reflect those same compromises. David Pawson taught that God may use governmental leadership to judge or bless a nation, depending on the people's obedience. He noted that Hebrew prophets saw wicked rulers as a form of divine judgement on a society that has strayed from God's laws. Therefore a nation's ultimate hope rests on repentance rather than just political change. His conclusion is that Christians should actively stand for moral truth in society. He believed that the church is meant to influence culture upward, and that a decline in national morality inevitably leads to deteriorating governance. ‍ ‍ ‍ Sadly much of the church today has become the ‘salt that has lost its savour’ through compromise with antichristian forces in society and government. It may be too late to save our country and western democracy as social and economic pressures create a collapse of democracy and push us either towards anarchy or dictatorship. ‍ ‍ ‍ Yeats’ poem quoted at the beginning of this article ends with the enigmatic line ‘Some rough beast slouches towards Bethlehem to be born.’ Most likely he is referring to the coming anti-Messiah who is labelled the Beast in the book of Revelation. Many believe his is now waiting in the wings to replace the true Messiah (born in Bethlehem) and bring in the dictatorship prophesied in Revelation 13. The Bible indicates that the Beast or Antichrist will have power for a moment, but it will be short lived and doomed to destruction at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the earth. Then the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our God and of His Messiah and He shall reign forever and ever (Revelation 11.15) and the ‘government shall be on His shoulder’ (Isaiah 9.6). ‍ ‍ ‍ Maranatha come Lord Jesus. ‍ ‍ ‍ Water, water nowhere and not a drop to drink. (Apologies to the Ancient Mariner) ‍ ‍‍ ‍ While nations worry about supply of oil and gas as a result of the war in the Gulf and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a much more vital commodity for human survival is water. And it is in short supply in a growing number of nations. ‍ ‍ As of 2026, over 25 countries face extremely high water stress, with the most severe crises located in the Middle East and North Africa. This region is home to the world's most water-stressed nations, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, and Libya. India and Pakistan face critical water scarcity due to overexploitation of aquifers and population density. Much of Africa , Somalia and Ethiopia in particular are facing severe shortages due to drought and climate change. Mexico and parts of the United States (particularly Texas and the west coast) are experiencing significant water shortages and declining groundwater levels. ‍ ‍ ‍ Iran is facing a severe, multi-year water crisis as of May 2026, with major cities like Tehran, Mashhad, and Karaj approaching the point where taps could run dry due to depleted reservoirs. Groundwater is depleted across most of the country, and nineteen provinces are experiencing severe drought. The crisis is driven by a combination of climate change and decades of poor water management, including excessive dam construction and inefficient, water-intensive agriculture. China is facing a severe, multi-faceted water crisis defined by extreme scarcity in the north, widespread pollution, and mismanagement, threatening its food supply and economic growth. ‍ ‍ ‍ Several countries are significantly affected by upstream dam construction that reduces downstream water flow, causing, environmental, and diplomatic crises. These countries include Iraq, heavily impacted by dams built on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers by Turkey and Iran, leading to reduced water for agriculture, destruction of forests, and increased sandstorms. Egypt and Sudanface significant water security risks due to the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile. Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laosare affected of dams built by China on the upper Mekong River ‍ ‍ One country which bucks this trend is Israel. Israel manages its water resources by transforming a chronic shortage into a surplus through large-scale desalination, extensive wastewater recycling, and a centralised national water carrier system. The agriculture sector has shifted away from freshwater, using treated effluent instead. Advanced drip irrigation technologies are widely used to minimise waste. Israel has exported its water technologies to countries around the world, particularly Africa where it has given advice on how to use limited water resources to great effect. ‍ ‍ ‍ Without water no society on earth can survive. Bible prophecies indicate that water shortage and pollution will be a global problem in the last days. Most obviously no water equals no food, so famine is an inevitable result of water shortages. Jesus warned of this as a sign of the last days in Matthew 24.7. Revelation 8.10-11 speaks of something called ‘Wormwood’ falling on rivers and springs of water causing it to become bitter and many to die from drinking it. ‍ ‍ Prophecy speaks of the two great rivers of the ancient world, the Nile and the Euphrates, being affected by a crisis causing the Euphrates to dry up (Revelation 16.12) and the Nile to become contaminated and its waters turn foul (Isaiah 19.5-11). Isaiah 24 speaks of a curse devouring the earth in the last days causing the earth to be ‘defiled (or polluted) under its inhabitants.’ ‍ ‍ ‍ According to the New Scientist, there are massive amounts of water hidden deep beneath the Earth's surface. Scientists have found evidence of a reservoir of water three times the volume of all surface oceans combined, located roughly 250–400 miles underground within the mantle. ‍ ‍ ‍ It may be that the Lord will release this water to replenish and clean up the earth in the Millennial kingdom when ‘waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water.’ Isaiah 35. Zechariah 14.8-9 says, ‘In that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur. And the Lord shall be King over all the earth.’ Zechariah 14.8-9. See also Ezekiel 47. ‍ Rethinking Russia ‍ Things are not going well for Vladimir Putin in his ‘special military operation’. Four years after invading Ukraine in February 2022, Russia is not making advances and actually losing ground. Russia is losing as many as 25,000- 35,000 casualties a month and over 1.2 million have been killed and wounded since the war began. Ukrainian skills in drone warfare have destroyed large quantities of Russian equipment, tanks, armoured personnel carriers, artillery and rocket systems, helicopters, and naval vessels. ‍ ‍ Russia is spending an estimated 40% of the entire federal budget on the war effort. As a result of this and western sanctions, Russia is increasingly unable to fix chronic infrastructure problems at home. During the bitter Russian winter thousands of people were left without heat, light, or even water. All forms of transport, trains, trucks and planes, are facing logistical problems, making it difficult to transport goods and people across the vast Russian regions. Russia is on the way to an infrastructure collapse that will likely take decades to recover. ‍ ‍ Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov warned the State Duma that Russia's faltering economy risks stoking a 1917-style revolution. He demanded urgent financial and economic measures by autumn to avert a potential economic collapse. This raises the danger of the Russian Federation fracturing. The Caucuses are restive, the far east is looking to China and Siberia is facing an acute problem as a result of melting permafrost, causing buildings, bridges and pipelines to collapse. ‍ ‍ In the present circumstances it is hard to see how Russia could lead the Gog and Magog invasion of Israel (Ezekiel 38-39). Some have said that it is more likely that Turkey is the lead power in the War of Gog and Magog. They say that Meshech and Tubal are not Moscow and Tobolsk, but regions of modern Turkey. Erdogan’s Turkey is backed by an Islamist world view hostile to Israel, seeking the recovery of its Ottoman Empire. He has his eyes on taking control of Jerusalem. Turkey is possession of a large land army already stationed in the region, some of it occupying part of Syria. ‍ ‍ The alternative is that the War of Gog and Magog is some way off, possibly part of Armageddon, giving time for Russia to recover from its present distress. We wait and see, but meanwhile spare a thought and a prayer for the people of Ukraine and Russia, suffering as a result of Putin’s futile war, oppressed by his corrupt dictatorship and facing an economic and social collapse caused by his failed policies. ‍ ‍

Trumps visit with Xi

By David Passmore • May 25, 2026

Trump's Visit with Xi Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM The tempest path of Sino-U.S. tensions came to a head during Trump's first term in office with the outbreak of Covid. Many commentators believed that the deterioration in relations was in terminal decline and that a major confrontation in the straits of Taiwan was fast looming. Trump held China responsible for the spread of Covid, insisting that he would pursue reparations. The election of Biden halted this commitment. Biden sought a non-confrontational policy towards Beijing. In the aftermath of the disastrous premature withdrawal from Afghanistan handing that country over to the Taliban and the Russian invasion of Ukraine under his watch, Biden became too preoccupied to assertively engage with China. Chinese State media portrayed Trump's visit as being rather unremarkable in the context of other foreign dignitaries lining up to meet Xi, pointing out that just a week later Putin would arrive in Beijing. China manifests that it is winning the trade war that Trump began in 2018, beating America at its own game of capitalism. They frame the U.S. as being in a position of weakness because China is able to source whatever products they buy from the U.S. elsewhere like oil from Canada, and soybeans from Brazil. The oil, soybeans and 200 Boeing's Xi agreed to purchase from Trump were presented as a mere gesture to placate Trump as China has already bought 350 Air Buses in the last year. China would have the world believe that it is only semi-conductors where America has the edge. Here China hints that it is not likely to buy H200 Invidia Chips because it would mean that China will always lag behind the U.S. in building their AI tech. China's major contention and concern is that the U.S. may impose export controls to contain China. China's strategy instead is to invest massively on indigenous innovation. China wants to become an innovation powerhouse that will export its own Chips to the Global South. China is fast catching up with America's lead in AI with the launch of Deep Seek and they claim similar progress with Chip making. China is now ostensibly only eight months behind the U.S. on Large Language Models. Running contrary to this narrative Trump insists that China is desperate to trade with America. China's economy has now peaked. Emblematic of this stagnating growth is rising youth unemployment. China is no longer America's biggest trading partner. Trump has shifted manufacturing back to the U.S. and Trump believes that China can't revive its economy without America. Lined up to meet Xi with Trump were the heads of some of America's biggest Tech Corporations. Corporations like nvidia seek a relaxing of export controls for Chips as they want short term profits, ignoring the risk that China will reverse engineer this technology. More broadly, China and the U.S. are playing a geopolitical chess game spanning the globe. Trump outmaneuvered China in Latin America with the removal of Maduro from power in Venezuela. China is exploiting its influence on Iran in order to get Trump to refrain from taking more active steps towards the defense of Taiwan. Indeed, Trump didn't say anything about Taiwan during his visit. Trump's instincts are of a transactional approach towards alliances, where he is only willing to underwrite defense assistance if allies pay up as an insurer would. It is also important to note that saber rattling the Taiwan card also serves the CCP agenda to distract internal dissent concerning the state of the Chinese economy. Most imminently Trump needs China to pressure Iran to open the Straits of Hormuz and get oil prices down before the midterm elections. China has largely insulated itself from the Gulf energy impact due to stockpiles. Trump would also like China to stop providing Iran with GPS for its missiles. Other Chinese weapons systems and technology sold to Iran have failed to perform well against U.S. and Israeli military hardware. Matters boil down to a leverage between whatever Trump can do on Taiwan, China can do on the strait of Hormouz with Iran. Human Rights concerns, espionage and the alarming rate of Chinese acquisition of U.S. land have been placed on the back burner for the time being. (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).

Prayer request for Phil Malone

By David Passmore • May 17, 2026

Moriel & Jacob Prasch request prayer for Phil Malone and family “Please keep me and my family in prayer. My mum passed away on 13th May at the age of 93. It's a time of mourning, but may it be a time for the Gospel of Christ to be preached to my unbelieving family, especially my brother.”

Please Pray for Joanne Rizzetto, Pastor Dave Rizzetto's wife

By Mea Fredrickson • May 13, 2026

Moriel & Jacob Prasch request prayer for Sister Joanne Rizzetto, wife of Pastor Dave Rizzetto of Church of The Open Door in New York City. Joanne has developed painful complications and adverse side effects from medications following knee surgery. May The Lord intervene for healing and give guidance to her physicians. Lord, we humbly ask you to intervene in the life of our dear sister. We know you can do all things and that you hear our prayers and consider your servants. Please put a stop to the adverse reaction. Restrain and reverse its effects and restore our sister so that she can continue to serve you in the ministry that you have called them to. We do glorify Your Name. We don't ask as those who treat you as our debtor, but as those who have tasted your goodness and found such mercy and compassion at your feet. Grace and peace and mercy be with Joanne and Pastor Dave.

Will Lebanon miss its golden opportunity?

By David Passmore • May 5, 2026

Will Lebanon miss its golden opportunity? Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM Converging new facts on the ground have transformed the political landscape in Lebanon. With Assad removed from power in Syria, a vital lifeline of arms supplies for Hezbollah originating in Iran has diminished. Hezbollah suffered considerable losses in its last round of fighting with Israel. The decapitation of its leadership with the targeted pager attack inflicted a severe blow. Hezbollah's new leader Naim Qassem is a weak substitute for the charismatic Nasrallah who was assassinated by Israel in 2024. Hezbollah in its frail state foolishly fell into line with Iran's instruction to join the fighting against Israel following the recent American-Israeli war with Iran. This was contrary to the wishes of the Lebanese government which was fearful of the inevitable destruction that would be wreaked by the Israeli response. The differing attitudes to Israel amongst Lebanon's population is reflective of its ethnic composition. The predominant groups in order of plurality are Christians, Shia Muslims and Sunni Muslims with a smaller minority of Druze. The major concern of most Christians in Lebanon is the dire state of their economy. They have no appetite to further their plight by invoking Israel's rage. During the colonial inter war period the French envisaged the demarcation between Lebanon and Syria as carving out enclaves for Christian and Druze control. Within Lebanon there would be a shared government that by convention would have the Executive power split between a Christian President, a Sunni Prime Minister and Shia Speaker of Parliament. The Christians in southern Lebanon (particularly Maronite Catholics) saw themselves as being anthropologically descendants of ancient Phoenicians as opposed to an Arab identity where the Arab Christians were largely Eastern Orthodox. The schism between the Maronites and the Arab Eastern Orthodox dates back to the time of the Crusades. The Maronites were culturally French, speaking French as their main language and held precedence in much of the Lebanese economy. The first threat to Lebanese stability and cohesion was settled by the U.S. Eisenhower administration in 1958 which landed Marines in an amphibious operation. A repeated attempt at this by the Reagan administration in 1983 ended in a military disaster for the U.S. due to suicide bombings by Iranian controlled terrorists. Israeli efforts to bring in stability during the Lebanese Civil War in conjunction with its Lebanese Christian allies led by Major Saad Haddad likewise came to calamity when the Sabra and Shatila revenge attacks took place following the assassination of Lebanese leader Bashir Gemayel. The ''Good Fence'' policy of an Israeli friendly free Lebanon zone in Southern Lebanon eventually ended badly following Menachem Begin's second incursion into Lebanon called ''Shalom HaGalil'' aimed at stopping the PLO rocket attacks on Israeli border communities like Metulla, Kiryat Shmona, Naharya, Rosh Hanikra, Tzfat and Carmiel. The proxy Israeli occupation from the Israeli border to the Litani river became an imbroglio that many in Israel viewed as Israel's Vietnam with widespread domestic protest and a collapse of morale within the IDF. Eventually Israel absorbed Christian war refugees from Lebanon, while the Vatican and most of the Christian world turned their backs on the Lebanese Christians. Lebanon was then saddled with two states within a state. The first was in the aftermath of Black September in 1970 when King Hussein of Jordan defended his Hashemite throne and government from Yasser Arafat's attempt to take over Jordan due to Jordan having a 70% Palestinian Arab demographic majority. The Jordanian legion drove tens of thousands of its pro Arafat Jordanian citizens into Lebanon, creating a population base for the first state within a state under Arafat. However the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and other factions had their niche interests. Courtesy of the Israeli Air Force Arafat relocated what he saw as his government in exile to Tunisia. This was a missed opportunity by the Lebanese government to assert its autonomy and full territorial control by making a Camp David type peace with Israel inclusive of economic and mutual security provisions. Instead an Iranian backed Syrian intervention replaced Arafat's state within a state with a new one that morphed into Hezbollah. The fall of the Assad regime and the Israeli counter-offensive against Hezbollah re-presents Lebanon with the opportunity that it once lost. The predominantly Christian controlled Lebanese military could and should operationally coordinate with the IDF, to obliterate and remove Hezbollah as the Israelis relieved Lebanon of Arafat's state within a state. Such a rapprochement would likely have strong American and possibly French and British support, allowing Lebanon to be at a non-combative peace with Israel along the lines of Egypt and Jordan, and now some of the Emirates. The natural comradery of the Lebanese Druze community with the Israeli Druze and the pro-Israeli Druze of Syria would additionally re-enforce a regional harmony, as would the Maronite Christian community in Israel with their co-coreligionists in Lebanon. (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).

Pastor John Angliss

By David Passmore • May 5, 2026

PASTOR JOHN ANGLISS It is with profound sadness that we learned of the temporary separation from our friend and brother Pastor John Angliss. We look forward to being reunited with John in the millennial reign of Christ and indeed in God's Eternal Kingdom. Jacob Prasch visited John a few weeks ago in the UK while John was in hospice care having been diagnosed preterminal in his illness. While medically correct, it was of course a misdiagnosis. John is now cancer free and is alive and well in the presence of Jesus awaiting us in glory while his mortal body is being renewed for resurrection and immortality. In the meanwhile, during this temporary season of bereavement we do request prayer for his beloved wife Mary and for his congregation, The Ark Fellowship in England near Reading, England. Because he has recently arrived in the USA and is scheduled to address the Moriel Canada branch conference in Winnipeg, Jacob Prasch will regrettably not be able to attend the memorial service in Britain. Our condolences however are very much with Mary and our brethren in the UK who like us knew and loved Pastor Angliss. John was one of a minority of faithful voices who upheld a traditional biblically based Pentecostalism in the era of counterfeit revivals and apostasy that overtook most of British Pentecostalism. John was a faithful friend of Israel & The Jews standing on the prophetic purposes of God for Israel and the salvation of the Jews. John was a loyal friend to Moriel and Jacob Prasch and a colleague of David Pawson and Derek Prince, both of whom likewise stood by God's promises to Israel. John was also a founding leader of CMFI - the Christian Ministerial Fellowship International, former pastor of Three Mile Cross fellowship , and former board member of Focus On Israel (a Pentecostal Ministry to the Jews). While this separation is temporary, John's eternal gain will be our temporary loss. O GRAVE - WHERE IS THEY VICTORY, O DEATH WHERE IS THY STING ? Hosea 13:14 / 1 Corinthians 15: 55-57

We made it this far: Israel at 78

By David Passmore • April 28, 2026

We made it this far: Israel at 78 Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM Since the last anniversary milestone of Israel at 75, we have been embroiled in relentless wars. Citizens had little respite to enjoy this year's festivities, coming on the heels of a lull in fighting on the Iranian and Lebanese fronts. We are constantly waiting for a breakthrough on the horizon that will normalize our relations with our neighbors and secure our position on the world stage. It is acutely exhausting to be the focus of the world's attention. But also there is a sense of inevitability accompanying the Zionist project. Specifically that Israel is destined to be central in the wider region and global affairs. Why is this? Is it due to it being a western transplant? Being geographically positioned on the crossroads of three continents? Religious believers would point to prophetic fulfillment. It is short sighted to only look at how our problems are rooted in today’s' reality. Greater forces are at work that will dictate the direction that Israel is heading. The Jewish diaspora will likely find itself in a growing precarious position that will lead to increasing Aliyah (immigration to Israel) and will perhaps ferment the emergence of a second Jewish commonwealth that will not need to heed international pressure in the same way that todays' polity finds itself doing. In this light it is interesting to ponder how our posterity would view our predicament and gains. And I frame matters in these terms with intentionality. We are enmeshed in a seemingly intractable conflict with the Palestinians, and yet Israel has made great gains particularly in the technological fields. There is a current of thinking that perceives Israel's way out of its quagmire is by making itself indispensable to technological advancements. We don't know how tomorrows' world will be shaped by the rapidly advancing AI revolution but so far Israel has proven to be uniquely adaptable and innovative to technological change. This has proved to be a boon to Israel's economy, as have offshore natural gas discoveries being developed in concert with Greece, Greek Cypriot and American energy interests that are geographically and strategically removed from any Straits of Hormuz shipping impediments that strangle the Persian Gulf deposits shared by Qatar and Iran. On another note we should contextualize the situation. How different are Israel's challenges from other nations? Is Israel any less stable than other countries (particularly in the region)? Israel doesn't find itself uniquely challenged to define its identity (most European countries do also, particularly in light of immigration). Nor does the government experience any more volatility than other comparable democracies. Israel's real problems lay in the nature of how its Jewish citizens desire to govern themselves. It is arguable whether the judicial reform protests that occupied public discourse in pre-October 7th Israel would have led to serious civil strife. But it is without doubt that this impasse was allayed by the external attack. The underlying tensions remain unresolved and there are many ways that they could play out. It has been framed as a battle for Israel's soul. Israel's enemies predict that Zionism is imploding and that the State won't survive another 5-10 years. Supporting this claim, they point to Israel's increasing alienation and growing pariah status on the international stage. Our Prime Minister has been indicted for war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Even public opinion in our staunchest ally the U.S. has turned sharply against Israel. With 80% of the Democratic Party being anti-Israel in a growing climate of anti-semitism we have even witnessed the shift of Alan Dershowitz to the Republican Party which must be seen as emblematic of a trend. There is apprehension in Israel of a post-Trump America dominated by the Democrats. However, these seeming incontrovertible facts may be offset by other measures of fortitude. This may be partially countered by the high investment by Silicon Valley in the Israeli Hi-tech sector, making Israel an asset for purposes of Research and Development in America's AI race against China. New opportunities for economic relations have also been opened with Arab nations through the Abraham Accords and with the powerhouse India. Furthermore, it is difficult to imagine a world in which Israel's technological prowess will not carry the sway of western decision makers in the long run. Israel's 78th anniversary is a moment to take pause and not catastrophize what the future may behold. The entire world is currently in a state of transformation and Israel is not an outlier in this context. (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).

Council attempts to shut down and censor local church’s evangelism efforts.

By David Passmore • April 23, 2026

Please click this link:https://mailchi.mp/christianconcern.com/action-alert-street-preaching-22-04-26?e=f1df30be3f

A critical juncture in NATO's future

By David Passmore • April 14, 2026

A critical juncture in NATO'S future Rubin Rothler LLB, LLM NATO was originally established in 1949 to keep the Russian hordes at bay from toppling those European countries not forked over to the Soviet sphere of influence at the Potsdam conference. Europe lay in ruins. Britain had passed on the torch of global hegemony to the U.S. by tacitly acquiescing to the decolonization of its Empire when Churchill and Roosevelt agreed terms of the Atlantic Charter for the post-war new world order in 1941. So from its start NATO was very much an American driven endeavor. American money with the Marshall plan was propping up western European economies and its military might was forming the bulk of their defensive capabilities. The lopsided nature of this dynamic has informed how tensions have persisted and recently erupted in the Alliance. During the Cold War the U.S. felt obligated to shoulder the costs of underwriting Europe's security in light of the broader interests to keep the Soviet's in check. Following the fall of the Iron Curtain European complacency became a sticking point with the 'peace dividend' further exploiting American largesse. European NATO allies spent ever smaller percentages of their GDP on defense expenditure at U.S. expense. Now in a multi-polar world U.S. and European perceived threats are less aligned. This was first tested in the aftermath of September 11th when for the first time NATO elected to trigger its article 5 collective defense protocol. And since then the U.S. has sought to continue to expand the traditional theatre of operations beyond Europe's borders. No longer is Russia perceived by America as being a proximate existential threat to its interests, but rather containing Chinese expansion in the Pacific arena. Parallel to NATO a discrete 'five eyes' intelligence sharing alliance comprising the Anglo-sphere (the U.S., U.K., Canada and New Zealand) emerged. This stands at the center of the U.S. – U.K. 'special relationship'. A relevant question would be can this signals intelligence (NSA-GCHQ) partnership persist should the U.S. withdraw from NATO? Conventional thinking would have led one to believe that with Brexit the U.K. would naturally pivot towards closer U.S. relations but under Starmer the U.K. is distancing itself. European powers misrepresent the present conflict as an aggressive, rather than defensive U.S. adventure while they themselves are more likely to be at risk. In this the Starmer government resembles the Labor party led committee for nuclear disarmament in the 1980's. It opposed the Thatcher supported deployment of U.S. cruise missiles in response to the Soviet SS20's pointed at Britain's cities. The British left branded their response to Soviet strategic escalation to U.S. aggression. This time however there is for the moment no Thatcher to bring common sense into an equation dominated by emotionally driven ideologies in the face of an aggressor with definite aims. In terms of the Russian-Ukraine conflict we are reverting to the old question dating back to the Napoleonic war era: to what extent is London happy with the European nations fighting it out alone for dominance of the continent. Britain was never willing to accept a single power in control. Many variables will dictate what kind of world emerges from the current conflicts in Ukraine and Iran. How will power be extracted from potential gains? What will be the strategic impact of this? What is sure, in the age of Trump this pattern of reliance on U.S. muscle is becoming quickly exhausted. Dating back to the Roman Empire, a factor in the decline of major powers has always been astronomical military spending, a budgetary demand that the U.S. under Trump is no longer willing to shoulder alone. (Author is an Israeli American lawyer academically qualified in British and in U.S.A. law, and a graduate of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is currently based in Israel).