In light of 2 Corinthians 11, can Michael Brown be called your brother in Christ?
Since the inception of the New Order of the Latter Rain (NOLR) cult (which matured into the Charismatic movement and naturally morphed into the New Apostolic Reformation), people who are in these heretical sects have no problem denying their involvement in these movements. They do this only to usurp leadership of churches and denominations and convert people to NARismaticism.
An example of someone doing exactly this is Michael Brown. He has been lying publicly that he is a Charismatic Pentecostal. For someone who parades the notion that he is a theological expert, this is duplicitous. The truth is, Michael Brown is not a Pentecostal. Back in 1949,Pentecostalism had both condemned, and later resisted, both the NOLR and its ‘offspring’ movements such as the Charismatic Renewal Movement (CRM). Even worse, Michael Brown has been hiding behind the Charismatic title giving the impression that Charismaticism is distinguished from NAR theology. This is deceitful when he has clearly demonstrated in his theology, language and practice that he knows his theology is in line with the NOLR heretical fathers and his Apostle friends in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR).
For instance, in 1990 in his book, ‘What Happened to the Power of God?’, Michael Brown acknowledged where his heretical beliefs came from – the New Order of the Latter Rain. Rather than point out why these teachings and leaders were dangerous because of their false gospel, false Jesus, false spirit, false ecclesia and unbiblical faith, Michael Brown upholds these frauds and apostates:
“From 1947-1958 there was a great outpouring of healing power, unprecedented in modern times. Until that time, healing anointings were rare. […] But in 1947 things changed. […] A new generation was being raised up, and suddenly the gifts were everywhere. There were hundreds of “healing evangelists” preaching through the United States and overseas, many of them with huge tents and even television ministries… […] It takes holy servants to be channels of the Spirit. He cannot be separated from His gifts. They are a manifestation of Him.”
Source: Dr Michael Brown, What Happened to the Power of God?, Destiny Image, Revival Press, Published 1991, pg. 11-12.
That ‘great outpouring of healing power’ being referred to above was the NOLR. Franklin Hall and William Branham were the key figures that promoted and “raised up” a “new generation” of cultists promoting the ‘healing gospel’. These gifts came out of the New Order of the Latter Rain because they believed they could impart spiritual gifts/offices to others. That’s how hundreds of healing evangelists emerged through the U.S and overseas. Michael Brown has the audacity to call them “holy servants” when they did not hesitate preaching the false ‘Power Gospel’ or ‘Gospel of the Kingdom’. This is a ‘signs and wonders’ gospel that convinces people that God is real to serve their needs, often espousing that healing was in the atonement (which later developed through Oral Roberts and the NOLR organization ‘Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International, that Jesus died to make people rich).
Michael Brown also teaches NOLR Manifest Sons of God heresy in his book, ‘What happened to the power of God?’ (1990)
These heretical teachings are littered throughout the Brownsville Revival, a dangerous event that Michael Brown considers to be a genuine move of God. But why does Michael Brown endorse these heresies?
The answer is simple: he believes in their heresies.
Simply look at his statement of beliefs in his FIRE School and FIRE Church. (These belief statements can be found at the bottom of this article.)
Brown promotes the false NOLR demonic spirit and its false baptism that leads people to confess that Christ is NOT fully YHWH:
“We believe that Baptism in the Holy Spirit, primarily evidenced by speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance, is for all believers as promised by John the Baptist (Mat 3:11), Jesus (Acts 1:4, 5, 8), and Peter (Acts 2:38-41) and as witnessed by the early disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 2:1-4; 10:44-46; 19:6).”
Because of this spirit, Brown confesses the false NOLR healing gospel:
“We believe that […] divine healing is also provided in the atonement (Isa 53:5)”
Because of this false spirit and false gospel, Brown confesses a FALSE CHRIST:
“[Jesus] was declared ‘Son of God’ with His resurrection, so He was born the Son of God, and then born again as the Son of God. You’ve got to listen to the whole teaching.”
“[Jesus] always was fully God. But like many others teach, while He was on the earth, He did not use His divine prerogatives to heal, but heal by the Spirit. Jesus Himself says that. ‘I can only do what I see the Father doing.’ ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach.’ ‘I drive out demons by the Spirit.’”
“Yet Jesus told us that if we believed in Him, we could do the same works He did (John 14:12). Why, then, is there such a massive discrepancy between what He did by the Spirit and what we do by the Spirit?
I understand that Jesus was uniquely accredited by God with signs, wonders, and miracles (for example, Acts 2:22). But surely, if His words are true (and they are!), we should be seeing many more healings and miracles today.” [Source]
Brown promotes the false NOLR dooms-day cult model of ‘church’:
“There is no church unless Jesus Christ holds it together, and neither is the church properly founded unless genuine, God-given apostles and prophets are in their rightful place according to the will of Jesus, the head (Eph 2:20-22; 4:11).”
These confessions put him outside of the Christian faith and lump him in with all the false prophets, apostles, healers and evangelists he endorses in the NOLR/VHM period between 1947-1960.
In understanding Michael Brown’s theological backdrop in endorsing the NOLR cults and their heretical leaders, this explains why Michael Brown was involved in, and gave his full support (while he was the Principal of Brownsville Revival School of Ministry), to NAR Apostle Lou Engle and NAR Apostle Che Ahn for ‘The Call’ rallies.
NAR Apostle Lou Engle with NAR Apostle Bill Johnson – friends of Michael Brown – all confess a different faith in a different spirit, different Christ and promote a doomsday cult model for believers to follow.
We do not know how long Michael Brown knew Lou Engle. However, if Michael Brown claims to be full of the Holy Spirit, theologically discerning and theologically careful who he chooses to fellowship with or support – then Lou Engle is the last person Michael Brown should ever fellowship with.
Cindy Jacobs reported the following on Lou Engle:
In 1996, God gave Engle a prophetic dream that spawned the movement now referred to as The Call. In the dream, Engle was to pass on a letter to a young boy named Joel. Engle awakened with the thought that he had lost the letter that Joel was supposed to receive. “At that point, the Holy Spirit spoke to me, ‘Don’t drop Joel’s letter!'” recalls Lou. “I interpreted this to mean we shouldn’t drop God’s call, articulated in the second chapter of Joel, to pray and fast.” [Archived]
The ‘Joel’ reference should already be sending alarm bells to Christians who are familiar with NOLR theology. But the ‘pray and fast’ mandate God called Engle to do should be the clincher. An iconic feature of the NOLR cult was it’s adherents obsession in fasting and praying through the writings of heretic Franklin Hall. Yet Engle in 1998 had no problem promoting in his book ‘Digging the Wells of Revival’, heretic Franklin Hall, his heretical teachings and the damnable practices of the NOLR.
In one of Lou Engle’s articles below, he links people to this pdf where you can actually see for yourself how heretical Franklin Hall’s writings actually are.
1946 – Atomic Power With God – Franklin Hall
Lou Engle writes,
“Just consider:
• This year, 1998, marks the 50th anniversary of the birth of the nation of Israel and the literal Jewish year of Jubilee.
• A massive reawakening of prayer and fasting is taking place – much like the great movement begun more than 50 years ago when Franklin Hall wrote Atomic Power With God Through Prayer and Fasting in 1946.
• We are right in the middle of the “Jubilee year” commemorating the 1947-1949 worldwide outpouring of the Holy Spirit that gave rise to the healing revivals of the Latter Day Rain, the campus revivals spearheaded by Bill Bright, and the release of great evangelists like Billy Graham.
The re-establishment of the nation of Israel in particular released spiritual shock waves into the heavenlies 50 years ago that are still reverberating throughout the earth. The spiritual and natural ramifications of this Jubilee year cannot be underestimated.
Likewise, it is no coincidence that Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade in the late 1940’s, came under a tremendous burden in 1995 and 1996 – 50 years later – that the future of America was hanging in the balance. In the midst of a 40-day fast, God spoke to him and said that the greatest harvest in the history of America would be brought in before the year 2001 if God’s people would humble themselves in prayer and fasting. Compelled by this prophetic insight, Bright wrote the book, The Coming Revival: America’s Call to Fast, Pray and “Seek God’s Face,” which has released an unprecedented, cross denominational wave of fasting in America. The book comes 50 years after Franklin Hall’s book shared a similar call.
Is this coincidence or the schematic hand of a faithful and purposeful Creator? Likewise, how do we assess that 50 years after the outpourings of the Holy Spirit in 1948, reports again flood in describing healing revivals all over the world?
God has indeed released His covenant promise of Jubilee, or unprecedented blessing, in this season. Will it remain in blessing… or end in judgment?
The Purpose of Jubilee
Every fiftieth year, God commands a Jubilee: “Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you…” (Lev. 25:10). In the Jubilee year, the land was to be given complete rest – no sowing, reaping, or harvesting was permitted, although the people could gather what grew up naturally. Jewish slaves and their families were to be set free. Family inheritances of land that had been lost through poverty, or had been redeemed, were to revert to the original owners or rightful heirs, and all debts were cancelled. It was year that culminated seven Sabbath season –that is, the years of rest that came at the end of every seven –year period.
America has the opportunity to move into the fullness of such a period of grace and restoration. It is now an hour when we can move with God to restore what has been lost in our society. Where we have forfeited our rightful inheritance, in this day of favour, we can reclaim it. We can once again possess the blessings that are rightfully ours. We must move with God in the favourable day, as He instructs us in Isaiah 49:8: “This is what the Lord says: ‘In the time of My favour I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances.’”
Source: Lou Engle, Digging The Wells of Revival (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image Publishers, 1998.) pg. 5-6
This is not just a once-off reference. Lou Engle seems to be dangerously obsessed with Franklin Hall, his heretical teachings, the NOLR revival and their abhorrent practices:
“But tools of fasting and prayer are actually part of the nuclear arsenal of God.
Nuclear power ends wars. Franklin Hall said, “Fasting literally becomes prayer to the praying Christian, prayer that is as different as an atomic bomb to an ordinary bomb.” Bill Bright even explained the idea even more powerfully…”
Source: Lou Engle & Dean Briggs, The Jesus Fast (MN: Baker Publishing Group, 2016.)
Originally published in Spread the Fire, December 1996, Engle wrote an article based off the title of Franklin Hall’s notorious work titled ‘Atomic Power Through Fasting & Prayer‘. In this article we see that Lou Engle drew inspiration from Franklin Hall, the New Order of the Latter Rain cult and its heretical false teachers such as Billy Graham, Bill Bright, William Branham, Oral Roberts and T.L Osborne:
“A great wave of fasting and prayer fervour swept America and the world in 1946-1947. A book, Atomic Power With God Through Fasting and Prayer by Franklin Hall, was the spark that enflamed thousands to go on extended fasts and to seek God for revival and the return of the gifts of the Spirit . Many went on 40-day fasts.
Then in 1947-1952 the great healing revival broke out with men like William Branham, Oral Roberts, and T.L. Osborne who were used of God to perform extraordinary miracles. Most of the evangelists followed Hall’s fasting methods.
In 1948 the “Latter Rain” outpouring hit North Battleford, Canada, and swept into the United States. The Latter Rain brethren wrote that the truth of fasting was a major catalyst to the revival. After reading Atomic Power they entered a season of the “grace of fasting” and continued for three months. Then the Spirit fell.
In 1948 Bill Bright saw a vision of college campus awakenings, Billy Graham’s ministry was released in 1949, and the Asbury College revival, along with many others, commenced in 1950.
When in 1946 fasting prayer was trumpeted, from 47 to 52 massive revival tremors shook the earth. Fifty years later, a jubilee call to fasting by Bill Bright in his book, The Coming Revival, anticipated greater harvest and glory than we have ever seen.
In my own life, I have on several occasions gone on lengthy fasts, including a 40-day fast on juices and water in January 1996 after I read Bright’s book. Many of the people at our church in Pasadena, California, entered long fasts during that season. Out of it was birthed a 24-hour, mostly continuous prayer meeting. In fact, the renewal meetings in our city were birthed in a 21-day city-wide fast called by Wesley Campbell of Kelowna, B.C.
[…] Gordon Lindsey, founder of Christ for the Nations, and a Christian statesman, said during the healing revival that fasting prayer is the master key to the impossible. Let us turn that key in our generation.” [Source]
And here:
“One such instance especially bears repeating. It was a well released in 1946 by Franklin Hall’s book, Atomic Power With God Through Fasting and Prayer. God Through Fasting and Prayer. That single spark enflamed thousands across America to go on extended fasts and to seek God for revival and the return of the gifts of the Spirit. Many went on 40-day fasts.”
Source: Lou Engle, Digging The Wells of Revival (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image Publishers, 1998.) pg. 146
CONCLUSION
The point of this article is to simply expose that Michael Brown espouses the same heretical Jesus, gospel and spirit in his ‘statement of belief’ and in his ministry as those he looks up to in the NOLR cult. Lou Engle as well. They are those who are standing and confessing a different faith that is alien to the historic Christian faith – one that cannot save them.
To put up with Michael Brown peddling these teachings and beliefs under the cloak of Pentecostalism is like putting up with Satan parading as an angel of light. If Brown is prepared to call these heretics “holy servants” then why are we putting up with Brown disguising himself as a servant of righteousness? Why are Christians not taking God’s Word seriously enough through the writings of Apostle Paul?
“But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. 5Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles.
And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.” 2 Corinthians 11:3-5, 12-15
Michael Brown’s FIRE-Church statement of beliefs:
WHAT WE BELIEVE
- We believe in the verbal, absolute inspiration of the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments (2 Tim 3:16; Heb 4:12; I Pet 1:23-25; 2 Pet 1:19-21).
- We believe in the one triune God co-existing in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Mat 3:16, 17; 28:29; John 17).
- We believe that man, in his natural state, is a sinner, lost, undone, without hope in the world, and without God (Rom 3:19-23; Gal 3:22, Eph 2:1,12).
- We believe that Jesus is God, come in the flesh and that He is both fully divine and fully human, the Son of God (Luke 1:26-38; John 14:1-3; Acts 2:36, 3:14, 15; Phil 2:5-12).
- We believe the only way to be saved is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and was raised for our justification (Acts 4:12; Rom 4:1-9, 25; 5:1-11; Eph 1:3-15).
- We believe that the same Christ Jesus who walked the earth in His fleshly body has been raised from the dead and has ascended to the Father and is presently serving as head of the church on earth, bringing it to purity and maturity, and interceding for the saints (Luke 24:39-43; John 20:24-29; 14:1-6; Romans 8:34; Eph 4:11-13; Col 1:18; Phil 1:6; Rev 19:7-8).
- We believe in the visible, bodily, premillennial return of Christ Jesus to this earth, to gather His Church (Bride), and to judge the world (Acts 1:10, 11; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; James 5:8; Revelation 1:7).
- We believe that in conjunction with the return of Jesus, the people of Israel will turn to God and be saved (Mat 23:39; Rom 11:15). The church is not spiritual Israel; it will enjoy the promises given to Abraham along with natural Israel, not in place of it. The church and Israel remain distinct, but believing Jews and believing Gentiles are united as one people of God through the redemption that is in Messiah Jesus, the Son of God. With this in mind, the church should love Israel as it loves itself, should pray for Israel, should minister with the understanding that their Savior is Israel’s Messiah, and should pursue the salvation of Israel.
- We believe that the terms of salvation are repentance toward God and a personal, heartfelt faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, which results in regeneration of the person.
- This salvation is entirely by the grace of our Lord and not of works. Works are excluded except as fruit of salvation (Acts 3:19, 20; Romans 4:1-5; 5:1; 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-10).
- We believe that the Church of Jesus Christ is a body of believers who have Jesus as their head; who assemble to worship, who carry forth the great commission, and who minister as the Holy Spirit leads (Mat 16:18, 28:19, 20; Acts 2:20-28; Eph 4:15; 5:22-32; I Tim 3:15).
- We believe that the two ordinances of the Church which are commanded by Christ are Baptism, by immersion in water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Mat 28:19-20; Acts 8:38; Rom 6:1-4; 1 Pet 3:21); and the Lord’s Supper, a memorial of the death, resurrection and second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 22:13-20: 1 Cor 11:23-26).
- We believe that believers should live, as the early disciples did, a life separated from the world and unto Christ and to set standards of conduct that exalt our Lord and His Church. A life of holiness and obedience to God is not optional, but is commanded by Jesus and the apostles as a requirement for those who will enter the kingdom of God (Mat 7:21; 16:27; Rom 12:1-3; 2 Cor 6:17; Gal 6:14; Eph 5:11; Col 3:17; Rev 20:12). Holiness is not prerequisite to, but evidence of, salvation, and as such it is always present among those who are saved (Heb 12:14).
- We believe that the Scriptures clearly set forth the doctrines of eternal punishment for the lost and eternal life for the saved (Mat 25:34, 41, 46; Luke 19:19-31; John 14:1-3; Rev 20:11-15).
- We believe the Holy Spirit to be the third person of the Trinity whose purpose in the redemption of man is to convict men of sin, regenerate, indwell, and guide the believer into all truth, and give gifts to believers as He wills, that they may minister as Christ would, to men. We believe that any local congregation that yields to the Holy Spirit should experience the manifestations of all the Spiritual gifts mentioned in 1 Cor 12:8-10 (Luke 11:13; John 7:37-39, 14:16, 17, 16:7-14; Acts 2:39-48).
- We believe that Baptism in the Holy Spirit, primarily evidenced by speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance, is for all believers as promised by John the Baptist (Mat 3:11), Jesus (Acts 1:4, 5, 8), and Peter (Acts 2:38-41) and as witnessed by the early disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 2:1-4; 10:44-46; 19:6).
- We believe that God uses doctors, medicines, and other material means for healing, but that divine healing is also provided in the atonement (Isa 53:5) and may be appropriated by laying on of hands by elders (James 5:14-16) or by believers (Mark 16:18), by the prayers of any believer gifted for healing the sick (I Cor 12:9), or by a direct act of receiving this provision by faith (Mark 11:23).
- We believe that the foundation of the New Testament Church is the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the cornerstone. There is no church unless Jesus Christ holds it together, and neither is the church properly founded unless genuine, God-given apostles and prophets are in their rightful place according to the will of Jesus, the head (Eph 2:20-22; 4:11).
- We believe that leadership in the church should emerge as the gifts of God become evident, that these leadership gifts include, but are not limited to elders and overseers, and that all leaders in the body of Christ are given to serve the body, not to be served, and to facilitate the will of God, not their own will, being realized among the saints under their care.
Source: Vision Statement, FIRE Church, http://fire-church.org/vision-statement/, Accessed Nov 20 2017. [Archived]
Michael Brown’s FIRE-School statement of beliefs,
What we believe
We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments (2 Tim 3:16; Heb 4:12; I Pet 1:23-25; 2 Pet 1:19-21).
We believe in the one triune God co-existing in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Mat 3:16, 17; 28:29; John 17).
We believe that man, in his natural state, is a sinner, lost, undone, without hope in the world, and without God (Rom 3:19-23; Gal 3:22, Eph 2:1,12).
We believe that Jesus is God, come in the flesh and that He is both fully divine and fully human, the Son of God (Luke 1:26-38; John 14:1-3; Acts 2:36, 3:14, 15; Phil 2:5-12).
We believe the only way to be saved is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and was raised for our justification (Acts 4:12; Rom 4:1-9, 25; 5:1-11; Eph 1:3-15).
We believe that the same Christ Jesus who walked the earth in His fleshly body has been raised from the dead and has ascended to the Father and is presently serving as head of the church on earth, bringing it to purity and maturity, and interceding for the saints (Luke 24:39-43; John 20:24-29; 14:1-6; Romans 8:34; Eph 4:11-13; Col 1:18; Phil 1:6; Rev 19:7-8).
We believe in the visible, bodily, premillennial return of Christ Jesus to this earth, to gather His Church (Bride), and to judge the world (Acts 1:10, 11; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; James 5:8; Revelation 1:7).
We believe that in conjunction with the return of Jesus, the people of Israel will turn to God and be saved (Mat 23:39; Rom 11:15). The church is not spiritual Israel; it will enjoy the promises given to Abraham along with natural Israel, not in place of it. The church and Israel remain distinct, but believing Jews and believing Gentiles are united as one people of God through the redemption that is in Messiah Jesus, the Son of God. With this in mind, the church should love Israel as it loves itself, should pray for Israel, should minister with the understanding that their Savior is Israel’s Messiah, and should pursue the salvation of Israel.
We believe that the terms of salvation are repentance toward God and a personal, heartfelt faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, which results in regeneration of the person. This salvation is entirely by the grace of our Lord and not of works. Works are excluded except as fruit of salvation (Acts 3:19, 20; Romans 4:1-5; 5:1; 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-10).
We believe that the Church of Jesus Christ is a body of believers who have Jesus as their head; who assemble to worship, who carry forth the great commission, and who minister as the Holy Spirit leads (Mat 16:18, 28:19, 20; Acts 2:20-28; Eph 4:15; 5:22-32; I Tim 3:15).
We believe that the two ordinances of the Church which are commanded by Christ are Baptism, by immersion in water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Mat 28:19-20; Acts 8:38; Rom 6:1-4; 1 Pet 3:21); and the Lord’s Supper, a memorial of the death, resurrection and second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 22:13-20: 1 Cor 11:23-26).
We believe that believers should live, as the early disciples did, a life separated from the world and unto Christ and to set standards of conduct that exalt our Lord and His Church. A life of holiness and obedience to God is not optional, but is commanded by Jesus and the apostles as a requirement for those who will enter the kingdom of God (Mat 7:21; 16:27; Rom 12:1-3; 2 Cor 6:17; Gal 6:14; Eph 5:11; Col 3:17; Rev 20:12). Holiness is not prerequisite to, but evidence of, salvation, and as such it is always present among those who are saved (Heb 12:14).
We believe that the Scriptures clearly set forth the doctrines of eternal punishment for the lost and eternal life for the saved (Mat 25:34, 41, 46; Luke 19:19-31; John 14:1-3; Rev 20:11-15).
We believe the Holy Spirit to be the third person of the Trinity whose purpose in the redemption of man is to convict men of sin, regenerate, indwell, and guide the believer into all truth, and give gifts to believers as He wills, that they may minister as Christ would, to men. We believe that any local congregation that yields to the Holy Spirit should experience the manifestations of all the Spiritual gifts mentioned in 1 Cor 12:8-10 (Luke 11:13; John 7:37-39, 14:16, 17, 16:7-14; Acts 2:39-48).
We believe that Baptism in the Holy Spirit, primarily evidenced by speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance, is for all believers as promised by John the Baptist (Mat 3:11), Jesus (Acts 1:4, 5, 8), and Peter (Acts 2:38-41) and as witnessed by the early disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 2:1-4; 10:44-46; 19:6).
We believe that God uses doctors, medicines, and other material means for healing, but that divine healing is also provided in the atonement (Isa 53:5) and may be appropriated by laying on of hands by elders (James 5:14-16) or by believers (Mark 16:18), by the prayers of any believer gifted for healing the sick (I Cor 12:9), or by a direct act of receiving this provision by faith (Mark 11:23).
We believe that the foundation of the New Testament Church is the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the cornerstone. There is no church unless Jesus Christ holds it together, and neither is the church properly founded unless genuine, God-given apostles and prophets are in their rightful place according to the will of Jesus, the head (Eph 2:20-22; 4:11).
We believe that leadership in the church should emerge as the gifts of God become evident, that these leadership gifts include, but are not limited to elders and overseers, and that all leaders in the body of Christ are given to serve the body, not to be served, and to facilitate the will of God, not their own will, being realized among the saints under their care.
Source: What We Believe, FIRE School, http://www.fire-school.org/who-we-are/what-we-believe/, Accessed Nov 20 2017. [Archived]
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Categories: Line of Fire