Faith Beyond
The Word of Faith
From
disillusionment to deeper discipleship
10th anniversary
Guest article
2 0 1 6 - 2 0 2 6
As promised late last year, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of this little
blog, we will be publishing several guest articles written by individuals that
I have come to know & trust. One such person is Pastor Chuck Lewis of Tularosa Community Church in New Mexico, USA.
I found his YouTube channel while I was looking for something else & the
rest, as they say, is history. Please take your time to read through this
excellent piece & avail yourself of the links provided for the work Chuck
is doing. There will also be a video presentation of this work available soon.
I will add a link when it is. TDQ.
Hello
and welcome, my name is Chuck, and this is my story about entering and exciting
the Word of Faith Movement. Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride!
DISCLAIMER
To
some, it may seem as though I am angry at the people mentioned in the following
article or even upset that I am in a wheelchair and that God has not healed me.
I want to assure you that the individuals I reference—especially those from the
Word of Faith church I once attended—were like family to me. I care for them
deeply and would never intentionally portray them in a negative light. However,
truth can sometimes be difficult to hear. Even so, I will do my best to present
the truth in love.
Please
understand that if there appears to be any anger, bitterness, or resentment in
what follows, it is directed solely toward the false teaching of the Word of
Faith movement—which is a cancer in the body of Christ—not to the people
with whom I shared my experiences or towards God.
DEFINING
TERMS
Today,
I want to share my experience within the Positive Confession and Word
of Faith Movement. Before I do, it’s important to define what I mean by
these terms so we’re all on the same page:
1. The
Positive Confession movement is a specific teaching that emphasizes the
power of spoken words to create reality.
a. The
Positive Confession movement emphasizes spoken faith as a creative force that
can bring about healing, prosperity, and success. While it has shaped much of
modern charismatic and prosperity teaching, it has also been widely criticized
for distorting biblical doctrine and placing undue blame on believers who
suffer.
2. The
Word of Faith movement is a broader theological system that incorporates
positive confession along with prosperity gospel, healing, and metaphysical
influences. In short, positive confession is a doctrine within the larger Word
of Faith movement.
a. Think
of Positive Confession as the engine (spoken faith creates reality),
while the Word of Faith movement is the vehicle that carries prosperity
gospel, healing, and metaphysical influences. One is a doctrine; the other is a
movement built around it.
As
you can see, the two terms are closely connected, and for that reason, I
consider it appropriate to use Positive Confession Movement and Word
of Faith Movement interchangeably when describing their shared
theological framework and overlapping doctrinal emphasis.
THE
POSITIVE CONFESSION MOVEMENT AND ITS INFILTRATION OF CHRISTIANITY
While
I reference a Word of Faith church I once belonged to, it’s important to
understand that Word of Faith and Positive Confession are not
denominations. They are theological movements within charismatic and
Pentecostal Christianity. Think of the Word of Faith movement as the
broader system, and Positive Confession as a core doctrine within that
system. Neither has a central governing body or formal membership, yet both
have significantly influenced independent charismatic churches around the
world.
NECESSARY
CLARIFICATION
Although these teachings are most commonly
associated with charismatic and Pentecostal circles, their influence is not
limited to those traditions. Positive Confession and Word of Faith theology
can infiltrate any branch of Christianity willing to accept their
assumptions. While charismatic and Pentecostal churches may be more susceptible
due to their emphasis on spiritual gifts and experiential faith, any church
lacking biblical discernment can find itself adopting these ideas.
In
this sense, the spread of these doctrines is like a theological cancer—quietly
embedding itself wherever vigilance is absent, reshaping the gospel into
something it was never meant to be.
THE
ASSEMBLIES OF GOD OFFICIAL STANCE AGAINST POSITIVE CONFESSION
“The
positive confession teaching…advocates that God wants believers to wear the
best clothing, drive the best cars, and have the best of everything. Believers
need not suffer financial setbacks. All they need to do is to tell Satan to
take his hands off their money. The believer can have whatever he says whether
the need is spiritual, physical, or financial. It is taught that faith compels
God's action.
According
to this position, what a person says determines what he will receive and what
he will become. Thus people are instructed to start confessing even though what
they want may not have been realized. If a person wants money, he is to confess
he has it even if it is not true. If a person wants healing, he is to confess
it even though it is obviously not the case. People are told they can have
whatever they say, and for this reason great significance is attached to the
spoken word. It is claimed the spoken word, if repeated often enough, will
eventually result in faith which procures the desired blessing.
It
is understandable that some people would like to accept the positive confession
teaching. It promises a life free from problems, and its advocates seem to
support it with passages of Scripture. Problems develop, however, when Bible
statements are isolated from their context and from what the rest of Scripture
has to say concerning the subject. Extremes result which distort truth and
eventually hurt believers as individuals and the cause of Christ in general.”
—Assemblies
of God. The Believer and Positive Confession. Position Paper. General
Presbytery of the Assemblies of God, 1980. Assemblies of God,
https://ag.org/-/media/AGORG/Beliefs/Position-Papers/pp_4183_confession.pdf
Hold
onto that thought, because before we go any further, I need to take you back to
where this journey began…
WHERE
MY STORY STARTS
I
was born in 1986 with a birth defect called Spina Bifida, a condition in which
the spine and spinal cord do not form properly. It results from a combination
of factors—most notably insufficient folate during pregnancy. Because of
this, I was left paralyzed from the waist down and have used a wheelchair my
entire life.
When
I talk about the Positive Confession movement, I speak as someone who
understands why its promises sound so appealing at first. I also speak
as someone who has seen, firsthand, the deep damage those teachings can
cause.
I
grew up in charismatic circles. My parents are both Christians, and from an
early age I learned the value of church life and Christian community.
But woven into those years are experiences I wish I could forget—moments shaped
by teachings that promised more than they delivered. Let me share a few of
those experiences with you, so you can better understand where I’m coming from
and how I arrived here…
WHOSE
SIN CAUSED THIS?
At my first church—an Assembly of God
congregation—my parents were told that my birth defect was the result of their
sin. My dad was twenty‑seven, my mom twenty‑four, and they were already
trying to navigate the shock of my diagnosis. No one could name a specific sin,
of course. It was more of a vague accusation wrapped in spiritual language.
Looking back, I can’t help but think that the
people who said such things could trace their theological lineage straight back
to Job’s friends, who confidently blamed suffering on hidden wrongdoing
without understanding the heart of God.
The
claim that a child’s disability is caused by the parents’ sin is not only
theologically unfounded — it is directly corrected by Jesus. When the disciples
asked about a man born blind, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that
he was born blind?”, Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents
sinned… This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him.”
(John 9:2–3, CSB).
Jesus
dismantles the assumption that suffering is always tied to personal sin.
Scripture teaches that while suffering exists because of the fall, individual
affliction is not automatically divine punishment. Job’s friends made this
same error — confidently assigning blame without knowledge — and God rebuked
them for not speaking truthfully about Him.
A
biblical worldview recognizes that people with disabilities are not objects of
suspicion or blame but image‑bearers through whom God often displays His
strength and grace. The question Scripture leads us to ask is never “Who
sinned?” but “How will God be glorified in this?”
CHARLES
WILL WALK:
My dad attended the Full Gospel
Businessmen’s Fellowship breakfast every Saturday during my childhood (and
still does from time to time even now). At these meetings, everyone would write
a prayer request on a small slip of paper—about the size of a Post‑it note—and
exchange them so no one would forget to pray for one another.
On
one of those slips, my dad wrote, “Charles will walk.” He kept that
little piece of paper tucked in his wallet for years. Eventually, he showed it
to me and told me he still believed God was going to heal me.
Looking
back now, I know it was completely outside my control, but as a kid, I remember
feeling a strange sense of responsibility—as if I somehow needed to make
it happen so my dad wouldn’t be disappointed.
The desire for healing and wholeness is
real, and Scripture encourages believers to pray boldly. But assuming that God
has promised a specific healing goes beyond what the Bible actually teaches.
Faith is not a force we use to make God act; it is trust in God’s character,
not in a guaranteed outcome.
The apostle Paul prayed repeatedly for his
“thorn in the flesh” to be removed, yet God answered, “My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Corinthians
12:9, CSB). Paul’s experience shows that unanswered prayers for healing are not
signs of weak faith but opportunities for God’s power to be displayed in
unexpected ways.
A
biblical view of healing recognizes that God can heal, God sometimes does
heal, but God is never obligated to heal according to our expectations.
True faith is measured not by whether a miracle occurs, but by whether we trust
God’s goodness and sovereignty regardless of the outcome.
A
WORD FROM THE LORD:
In 1995, after leaving our first Assembly
of God church in ’93 and spending about a year at a Nazarene church, my mom and
grandma (who lived with us) began taking my siblings and me to another AG
church about thirteen miles away. At that time, my dad was still attending the
original AG church.
I
still remember our first visit. It was an evening prayer service, and the
sanctuary was mostly dark except for a few dim lights. People were scattered
throughout the room—some praying at the altar, others tucked into corners. It
didn’t take long before a woman approached me saying she “had a word from
the Lord.” According to her, I was going to be healed.
This
was one of the earliest—though far from the last—times someone claimed to have
a word for me. Even complete strangers in public would approach me with visions
or dreams of me walking. At first, I remember thinking, Great, sign me up. But
as the years went on and more people came with their prophecies and promises, I
found myself growing increasingly skeptical and wary of anyone who wanted to
share a “word” with me.
Experiences
like these reveal a common problem in certain charismatic environments: the
belief that God is constantly giving individualized prophecies about healing.
While Scripture affirms that God can speak and that He can heal, it also warns
believers to test every message rather than accept it automatically. The
apostle John writes, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test
the spirits to see if they are from God” (1 John 4:1, CSB). Not every
“word” someone claims to receive is from the Lord.
Furthermore,
Scripture never portrays healing prophecies as something delivered casually by
strangers in dim sanctuaries or grocery store aisles. In fact, Paul warns the
church about those who speak confidently without true authority, saying they
are “puffed up with empty notions” (Colossians 2:18, CSB). Claims of
visions and dreams must be weighed carefully, not embraced automatically.
THANK
GOD FOR SHOES:
There were also more dramatic moments,
like the time another woman at that same AG church bought me a pair of men’s
size 7 shoes because she believed God had told her that if I thanked Him for my
healing every day, I would soon be healed, able to walk, and eventually wear
them. I remember my mom placing the shoes on a shelf in my closet where I could
see them. For a while—I don’t remember exactly how long—she would ask questions
like, “Did you thank God for your healing today?” or “Do you feel any
different?”
Not
wanting to be a Doubting Thomas, I always answered positively. This
continued for some time, but eventually my mom stopped bringing it up, and I
just wanted to forget the whole thing. Years later, when my younger brother
grew big enough to wear the shoes, my mom asked if I would mind him having
them.
The
idea that healing can be guaranteed through repeated thanksgiving or ritual
acts—like thanking God daily until the miracle comes—is not supported by
Scripture. While the Bible does call believers to give thanks in all
circumstances, it never teaches that gratitude is a formula to force God’s
hand. Paul writes, “Give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for
you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18, CSB). Gratitude is commanded,
but it is an expression of trust, not a mechanism to secure healing.
The
danger of this teaching is that it shifts the focus from God’s sovereignty to
human effort. It implies that if healing does not come, the fault lies with the
sufferer’s lack of thanksgiving or faith.
Promises
like “you will walk if you thank God every day” place an unbearable burden on
the one suffering. They turn faith into performance and gratitude into a
transaction. But biblical faith rests not in formulas or rituals, but in the
unchanging character of God. True thanksgiving is not about manipulating
outcomes—it is about trusting God’s goodness whether healing comes or not.
I
think it’s fair to mention that the pastor and leadership at this AG church
were not like the individuals I’ve described. They did not preach or teach that
divine healing is always God’s will from the pulpit. In fact, as best as I can
remember, when there were altar calls or special times of prayer, they prayed
biblically—asking God to bring healing according to His will. They also never
gave strange or mystical instructions to people about how to receive healing.
The stories I’ve shared here came from individuals within the congregation.
While this article is not simply about my experiences of people telling me I
was going to be healed, those moments are significant. As I mentioned earlier,
they help you better understand where I’m coming from and how I arrived at this
point. With that in mind, I’ll share two more experiences that I believe are
especially important…
SILVER
& GOLD:
This particular experience took place in
2009. By then, I had been part of the Word of Faith church with my younger
brother and sister for about seven years. However, this account happened during
a youth meeting at the second Assembly of God church I attended. At the time, I
had recently been placed in a youth ministry role at the Word of Faith church
and was also assisting the youth pastor at the AG church.
We
hadn’t been there very long—people were just arriving—when my sister announced,
“God said that if we pray for you, you will be healed tonight.” Now, I
should pause here to clarify: it may sound like I don’t believe in healing, but
I do. I believe that God can and does heal people today. Whether
He chooses to heal or not, however, is entirely His decision.
So,
I agreed to let them pray. I don’t know how long the prayer session lasted—it
felt like an eternity. There was speaking in tongues, laying on of hands,
decreeing, and declaring. Finally, they tried to “silver and gold” me by
pulling me up out of my wheelchair to make me stand (did I mention I can’t
stand?). At that point, my brother stepped in and said, “Y’all need to stop.
If God wants to heal him, He can. But you aren’t doing anything.”
Even
now, writing about it years later, I can still remember the sense of shame and
embarrassment I felt when it was all over.
The
practice of forcing a healing moment—whether through decreeing, declaring, or
physically pulling someone from a wheelchair—reflects a misunderstanding of
both faith and God’s sovereignty. Scripture never teaches that healing can be
manufactured by human effort or ritual. Instead, believers are called to pray
with trust, leaving the outcome in God’s hands. James writes, “The prayer of
faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up” (James
5:15, CSB). Notice that it is the Lord who raises up, not the intensity of the
prayer or the actions of the people.
When
healing does not occur, Word of Faith and Positive Confession theology often
shifts the blame onto the sick person, implying they lacked faith. Yet this is
precisely the error Jesus corrected in John 9. Suffering is not automatically a
sign of unbelief or failure. To insist otherwise is to place burdens on the
suffering that Scripture never places there.
ANOINTING
WITH OIL:
Sometime later—I don’t remember exactly
when—my sister called and told me, “God said that if I come over and anoint
your feet with olive oil, He’s going to heal you.” At that point, I
replied, “God hasn’t told me anything about this, so I think I’m good.”
The
idea that God guarantees healing through a specific ritual—like anointing with
olive oil—is a distortion of what Scripture teaches.
The
danger of claims like “God told me if I anoint you, you’ll be healed” is that
they shift authority away from Scripture and onto personal impressions. Furthermore,
healing is always subject to God’s sovereign will.
I
should clarify here that I do believe God can, at times, speak to others
regarding you. For example, Nathan confronted David about his sin in 2 Samuel
12, and Agabus warned Paul about what lay ahead in Acts 21. However, not in the
way I’ve seen it practiced or claimed in the instances I described earlier.
This whole trend of personal prophecy really needs to stop, because it is not
biblical and often causes harm to the person being “prophesied” to. So, when I
say that I believe God can sometimes speak to others about you, let me give a
couple of examples of what I mean…
SHOULD
I GO TO BIBLE SCHOOL?
When I started attending the church where
I now serve as an associate pastor, God began leading me to pursue formal
biblical education. At the time, my brother and I were taking IT classes at the
local college. I shared my thoughts with both my brother and my pastor, and
they agreed that it was the right step for me to take. I believe it is not only
biblical but also practical to seek godly wisdom from godly people. I’m
convinced that God often confirms things with them that He has already been
dealing with in your own heart.
EXTREME
URGENCY:
I have had several instances where God has
given me dreams or a strong sense of urgency concerning other people and
situations in their lives. When I approach them, I usually don’t have
specifics—I simply share the warning from my dreams and the urgency I’m feeling.
The
first time this happened, I didn’t tell the person, and things went very badly.
Another time, I did warn someone, but they continued on with what they were
doing, and again the outcome was very bad. Toward the end of my time in the
Word of Faith church, I had a dream and approached the pastor, but he didn’t
listen. Later, after everything unfolded, I learned that two other people had
also had dreams and tried to warn him.
A
more recent situation was drawn out, beginning in late November and continuing
through March of the following year. I was woken up in the middle of the night
to pray for this person, I kept having dreams about them, and I even began
experiencing panic attacks during the day. I warned them on three different
occasions, and finally, after the last warning, they conceded and turned away
from what they were doing. I know that if they hadn’t, their life would have
been completely ruined.
I
want to emphasize that God was already dealing with these individuals. In these
cases, I was simply the one confirming what He was telling them. So, it wasn’t
as though I was approaching them with a “special word from the Lord” when they
had no idea what was happening—they did. And while only one of these situations
turned out well, I have resolved that whenever I have these kinds of dreams or
a sense of urgency, I will warn the person involved.
MY
INTRODUCTION TO THE WORD OF FAITH MOVEMENT
My
younger siblings and I (I was 16, they were 12) started attending The Cross
Family Worship Center in 2002. It was a small church that met in a couple of
rooms at our local community center, just down the street from where we lived.
We were initially invited by my cousin when the country/western band he was
part of played a concert there one Sunday morning. However, we stayed after
learning they had a Wednesday night youth group.
At
that time, the AG church we had been part of for seven years didn’t have anyone
under 40. We lovingly referred to it as “The Old Folks Home.” Our mom agreed to
let us start going to The Cross, but she required us to explain to our current
pastor why we were leaving. They understood, and we made the change.
I
want to reiterate that this AG church played a significant role in our early
upbringing, and we thought the world of the pastor and his wife. It wasn’t as
though we shut the door and never looked back. In fact, we visited from time to
time, and as I mentioned earlier, I even helped with their youth ministry once
I became involved in youth ministry myself (more on that later).
I
would soon discover that The Cross was a Word of Faith church. Up to that
point, I had never heard of the Word of Faith Movement, and whatever they were
didn’t really matter to me. Over the next ten years, The Cross Family Worship
Center became home. This was especially important for my brother, sister, and
me when our actual home fell apart during our parents’ divorce. Around this
time, our grandma—who lived with us throughout my entire childhood until I
moved out—began attending with us as well. Even when the church changed
buildings (and towns), it remained home, and these people became family. But no
family is without its problems.
THINGS
ARE ABOUT TO GET WEIRD
As
we begin looking at the progressively strange and twisted teachings that took
place, I think it’s important to emphasize that they were indeed progressive.
I’ve found this to be true in most situations where false teaching and unusual
ideas are introduced; if they hit you with the heavy stuff all at once, you’d
likely run away and never return. Instead, it comes gradually, step by step.
Before
going further, I should tell you a little about the pastor and his wife. Pastor
Jeff and his wife Teresa were both graduates of Rhema Bible Training Center,
Kenneth Hagin’s Word of Faith school in Oklahoma. Jeff had grown up Lutheran
but left the church, becoming entangled in drugs, alcohol, and trouble with the
law before turning his life around. Teresa came from a primarily Catholic
background.
Now,
Jeff and Teresa were not like many of the Word of Faith teachers you see
today—the ones flying in private jets and living in multi‑million‑dollar
mansions—they didn’t manipulate us into “sowing seed” so they could live in
luxury while we lived in poverty. When we first started attending, Jeff was
working at UPS, and Teresa was raising Australian Shepherds as their means to livelihood.
While they taught “divine prosperity,” they worked hard for what they had and
trusted God to provide.
The
primary focus of Jeff’s teaching centered on health, healing, and speaking the
Word over yourself. He often shared how God had delivered him from his
addictions. He also told of a time when Teresa suffered a mental breakdown and
crippling anxiety, and how, when she began confessing the Word over herself,
that’s when her freedom came. This testimony deeply impressed me and influenced
me to begin speaking the Word over myself concerning my own healing.
As
I mentioned, Jeff and Teresa were Rhema graduates, and that teaching
spearheaded much of their ministry. Jeff’s sermons were chock‑full of stories
about “Dad” Hagin, John G. Lake, Smith Wigglesworth, and other “men of faith”
who had embraced the Word of Faith message and, in his telling, transformed
their lives and the lives of others. He also spoke of miraculous events he had
witnessed at Rhema’s Winter Bible Seminar—how ushers would begin running around
the building and people would suddenly start getting healed. Jeff even brought
people from Rhema to our church to spark revival, increase our faith, and
jumpstart the miraculous. Allow me to share some of those experiences…
HOLY
LAUGHTER:
The first guest speaker brought in was
Marty Blackwelder, a key figure in Kenneth Hagin Ministries during the 1990s
and early 2000s, serving in music, teaching, and pastoral roles. Marty visited
The Cross twice, and his main message was centered on “Holy Laughter.” He would
take verses such as “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah
8:10) and “A joyful heart is good medicine” (Proverbs 17:22) and build
the doctrine of “holy laughter” or “laughing in the Spirit.”
He
sang what he called “Christian drinking songs,” with lyrics like: Ha, ha,
ha, ho, ho, ho, hey, Mr. Devil get out of my way. Ha, ha, ha, ho, ho,
ho, hey, I rebuke you and you cannot stay.
Marty
told stories about how laughing in the Spirit supposedly produced miracles. For
example, he claimed that when he and his wife were unable to have children,
they lay on the bed together and laughed at the devil, and that this resulted
in her becoming pregnant. He also taught that if you couldn’t laugh in the
Spirit, you simply needed to “laugh by faith”—in other words, fake it until you
make it.
By
the end of his services, Marty often had the entire church laughing. However, I
believe this had very little to do with the Spirit and much more to do with
Marty himself and the power of suggestion.
The
doctrine of “holy laughter” misuses Scripture by taking verses about joy and
twisting them into a ritualized practice that Scripture never commands. While
the Bible affirms joy as a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), it never
teaches that forced laughter produces healing, miracles, or spiritual
breakthroughs.
For
example, Nehemiah told the people, “Do not grieve, because the joy of the
Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10, CSB). This joy was rooted in their
renewed understanding of God’s Word, not in manufactured laughter. Likewise,
Proverbs says, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries
up the bones” (Proverbs 17:22, CSB). The verse describes the benefits of a
cheerful disposition, not a command to laugh by faith or “fake it until you
make it.”
The
danger of teachings like “holy laughter” is that they substitute emotional
manipulation for genuine spiritual transformation. Paul warned against empty
practices that distract from Christ: “See to it that no one takes you
captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on
the elements of the world, rather than Christ” (Colossians 2:8, CSB).
True
joy comes from the Spirit’s work in the heart, not from staged rituals. Jesus
Himself said, “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and
your joy may be complete” (John 15:11, CSB). That joy flows from abiding in
Him, not from laughing exercises.
DIVINE
HEALING:
The second Rhema man they brought in was
Jim Hockaday, a central figure in Kenneth Hagin Ministries during the late
1980s through the early 2000s. His leadership in music and healing ministry
helped shape Rhema’s emphasis on prayer and faith. At the time he visited The
Cross, he was teaching at Rhema’s Healing School. As Jeff promoted Jim before
his arrival, he shared numerous stories about the great healings that had taken
place under his ministry. Jeff expected to see the same kind of miraculous
events at our church that he had witnessed at Rhema—and, of course, we were
told we needed to be “in faith” for this to happen.
Needless
to say, I was excited. A genuine faith‑healer—maybe he could heal me! As the
time approached for his arrival, there was a buzz of anticipation in the air.
When Jim finally came, I had all the faith one could possibly have that
something miraculous was going to happen and that I would be healed. I remember
being one of the first to go up for prayer. Jim asked the usual questions: “Do
you want to be healed?” “Do you believe God can heal you?” Then he
prayed…and nothing happened.
That’s
when he said, “Sometimes God heals instantaneously, and at other times He
heals progressively.” He then told me that I was healed and needed
to continue standing on that fact until it fully manifested. In other words,
Jim had done his part, God had done His part, and now it was up to me.
Over
the years, I’ve seen this pattern repeated countless times, and I’ve come to
the conclusion that it’s nothing more than a way out for the “faith‑healer.”
Not that God couldn’t heal me—that’s not what I mean. I have seen God perform
truly miraculous things in my life concerning my health, and I know that I
would be dead if not for His intervention. But when you teach that it is always
God’s will to heal, and healing doesn’t occur, someone has to be blamed. And
inevitably, the blame is shifted onto the sick person: You don’t have enough
faith to receive your healing!
I
can’t begin to describe how I felt after this event—embarrassed, hurt,
confused… all of those words fit. I also had many questions: “How long was
it going to take?” “What if I accidentally lost it?” “Could I keep ‘standing in
faith’?”
The
following Wednesday night at youth group, I remember the youth pastor being
very excited, telling everyone that I had been healed. It didn’t take
long, however, for people to start acting as though it had never happened. No
one mentioned Jim or my supposed healing again after that.
The
next thing that really began to change the direction of the church was the
Florida Outpouring. The Florida Outpouring, also known as the Lakeland Revival,
was a NAR revival that erupted in Lakeland, Florida, in April 2008 under the
leadership of Todd Bentley. Originally planned as a one‑week event at Ignited
Church, it quickly expanded into nightly gatherings that drew thousands of
attendees and millions of viewers worldwide through satellite broadcasts and
online streaming.
The
revival was marked by intense worship, claims of miraculous healings, and
Bentley’s dramatic preaching style, which created a highly charged atmosphere
resembling a rock concert. While many participants testified to personal
renewal and supernatural experiences, the movement became controversial due to
questions about accountability, theology, and Bentley’s later personal
scandals. By August 2008, the revival collapsed, leaving behind a mixed
legacy—celebrated by some as a powerful move of God, but criticized by others
(myself included) as a cautionary tale of excess and lack of oversight.
Now,
one might ask, “How did a revival in Florida affect a church in New Mexico?”
Well, my friend, I’m glad you asked…
REVIVAL
BY SATELLITE:
Initially, Jeff and Teresa had been
watching GOD‑TV at home when the Florida Outpouring began, but they felt very
strongly that everyone in the church needed to see what was happening. After
all, it might spark revival in New Mexico. The only problem was that not
everyone had a way to watch it. That’s when Jeff decided to move his satellite
dish to the church so it could serve as a hosting site for the revival.
GOD‑TV
was streaming the events live, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, indefinitely—and
our church was watching. In fact, normal church services were even postponed in
favor of watching the Outpouring.
ROAD-TRIP
TO REVIVAL:
During the Florida Outpouring, Jeff and
Teresa, along with the associate pastor Bill and his wife Kim, and a few other
congregation members, decided that watching via the live stream wasn’t enough.
They traveled to Florida to experience the revival in person. Meanwhile, those
of us who couldn’t make the trip eagerly awaited their report when they
returned home.
It
seemed at the time that God was truly doing something in and through the
Florida Outpouring. But as you and I know, appearances can be deceiving. In
hindsight—always 20/20—it became clear that it wasn’t God at work, but the
enemy gaining a foothold. When Jeff and the others returned, that’s when things
really began to change…
EXPECTATIONS
RAISED:
During the Florida Outpouring, there were
claims of supernatural manifestations such as gold dust, angel feathers, and
other unusual signs. These reports were circulated among attendees and promoted
by some leaders, though they lacked any verifiable evidence. When those who had
gone—and supposedly experienced some of these things—returned, they fully
expected to see the same manifestations at our church. I remember a couple of
examples in particular. One involved Ms. Kim, our associate pastor’s wife,
getting very excited about some “gold dust” she found on the pew while
cleaning. My brother and I reminded her that the woman who had been sitting
there on Sunday was wearing a very sparkly dress. Another incident involved a
stranger with a shofar. During a Sunday morning service, a woman who had never
attended before walked in during worship, pulled a large ram’s horn out of her
purse, and began blowing it. Of course, those of us who saw what was happening
knew exactly what the noise was, but others who didn’t see assumed that angels
were singing with us.
While
these were more comical examples of the changes that began to take place, one
thing I especially notice now, looking back, is this: as expectations rose,
spiritual discernment diminished.
THE
NEW NORMAL:
One of the things Jeff often spoke about during my
time at the church was his frustration with what he called “old, dead
religion.” When the Florida Outpouring ended, he determined that he would not
return to the way things had been before. One of the major shifts we saw came
in the form of our worship services. While in Florida, Jeff had picked up
several worship DVDs from Jesus Culture and Bethel Church in Redding,
California, and these were now played for an hour before every service.
He
also began talking frequently about Bill Johnson (whom I had never heard of)
and the things happening at Bethel. Jeff introduced Bethel’s Offering
Declarations, which were recited before collecting tithes and offerings at each
service. He even held a meeting to go over Bethel’s leadership policies,
stating that we needed to begin implementing them in our own church.
I
believe Jeff had one goal in mind at this point: to make us into a little
Bethel. The “old, dead ways” were gone. Things would never be the same. This
was the new normal.
Jeff’s
rejection of what he called “old, dead religion” and his embrace of practices
imported from Bethel and Jesus Culture reflects a dangerous tendency: replacing
the simplicity of biblical worship with man made innovations and emotional
experiences. Scripture warns against this kind of shift.
True worship is centered on Christ, not
atmosphere—Jesus said, “An hour is coming, and is now here, when the
true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father
wants such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must
worship in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:23 24, CSB). Worship is not about
creating a concert like environment or importing trends from other movements—it
is about Spirit led truth grounded in God’s Word.
Offering declarations distort biblical
giving—Paul instructed believers, “Each person should do as he has
decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a
cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7, CSB). Biblical giving flows from the
heart, not from reciting scripted declarations designed to manipulate
expectation.
Leadership
policies must be tested by Scripture—The Bereans were
commended because they “examined the Scriptures every day to see if these
things were so” (Acts 17:11, CSB). Importing leadership structures from
Bethel without testing them against Scripture risks building a church culture
on human vision rather than God’s Word.
Beware
of chasing novelty—Paul warned Timothy, “For
the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but, according
to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have
an itch to hear what they want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3, CSB). The pursuit
of “new experiences” often leads away from sound doctrine and toward spiritual
deception.
The
gospel itself is timeless, and true worship is not dead—it
is alive wherever Christ is exalted in Spirit and truth. The danger of
movements like Bethel is that they elevate atmosphere, declarations, and
imported policies above Scripture. The church must guard against replacing
God’s Word with human innovation, remembering that “Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8, CSB).
KEEPING
THE VISION:
Not only was Jeff introducing and implementing new
things, but he also began opposing and objecting to certain practices. Remember
I mentioned that in 2009 I took over as the youth leader? And that my brother
and I were helping with the youth ministry at our old church on Sunday nights?
Well, word got back to Jeff, and needless to say, he wasn’t happy about it. To
clarify, I wasn’t hiding it from him—I honestly didn’t think it was worth
mentioning.
Jeff
sat my brother and me down one Sunday morning to find out what we were doing.
We explained, and that’s when he told us it was a very bad idea. He said he
wouldn’t outright forbid us from helping anymore, but he was strongly against
it and essentially all‑but forbade it. His reasoning was, “They don’t have
the same vision as us.”
This
was also around the time I joined the worship team and my brother started
running sound. Throughout my time in the church, Jeff frequently expressed his
disdain for the hymn Amazing Grace because of the line, “that saved a
wretch like me.” He would emphatically state, “I’m not a wretch. I’m the
righteousness of God in Christ.” He also disliked the phrase “Take
care,” insisting, “I’m not going to take care. I don’t have to take
care. Because Jesus said He would take my cares.”
These
weren’t the only phrases he took issue with. When I incorporated the song Blessed
Be Your Name into our Sunday morning worship, he erupted. He called the
worship team together and told us we were never to sing that song again—and if
we did, he would remove us from the team. His objection was to the line, “You
give and take away.” Jeff insisted, “God only gives. He doesn’t take
away. That’s Satan who takes away.”
All
of this was tied to “keeping the vision of the church.” But I was beginning to
realize that I could no longer follow or agree with the vision of this church.
Jeff’s
objections to hymns, phrases, and practices reveal a distortion of biblical
truth. While he claimed to be “keeping the vision of the church,” his reasoning
often contradicted Scripture and undermined the humility and discernment that
should characterize Christian worship.
Rejecting
“Amazing Grace” and the word “wretch”—The
hymn Amazing Grace reflects the biblical reality of human sinfulness. Paul
wrote, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans
3:23, CSB). Before Christ, we are indeed wretches—helpless sinners in need of
grace. Even after salvation, believers are called to remember what they were
rescued from: “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins” (Ephesians
2:1, CSB). To deny that reality is to minimize the depth of God’s mercy.
Misusing
“Take care”—Jeff’s rejection of the
phrases like “take care” was based on a misunderstanding of Scripture. While it
is true that believers are called to cast their cares on Christ, Peter writes, “Cast
all your cares on him, because he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7, CSB). This
does not mean Christians should avoid the language of care altogether. In fact,
Paul commended Timothy because he would “genuinely care about your
interests” (Philippians 2:20, CSB). And caring for others is a biblical
virtue, not something to be dismissed.
Rejecting
“You give and take away”—The line Jeff
opposed in Blessed Be Your Name comes directly from Scripture. Job declared, “The
Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job
1:21, CSB). To deny that God sometimes takes away is to deny His sovereignty.
While Satan may afflict, Scripture is clear that God permits and
governs all things according to His purposes
(Job 2:6). Removing this truth from worship distorts the biblical picture of
God’s authority.
Restricting
ministry based on “vision”—Jeff’s insistence
that they “don’t have the same vision” contradicts the unity of the body of
Christ. Paul wrote, “For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all
the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ” (1
Corinthians 12:12, CSB). Churches may differ in style, but they share one Lord,
one faith, and one baptism (Ephesians 4:5). To forbid cooperation undermines
the unity Christ prayed for in John 17.
Jeff’s
objections reveal a pattern of elevating personal preference and “vision” above
Scripture. By rejecting biblical truths about sin, care, God’s sovereignty, and
the unity of the church, he substituted human reasoning for divine revelation.
FAITH
BEYOND THE WORD OF FAITH
During
my time at The Cross Family Worship Center and within the Word of Faith
movement, I struggled…
HELP
MY UNBELIEF:
First, I struggled with having enough
faith. Jeff often spoke about how the power of confessing the Word had changed
his and Teresa’s lives, and I desperately wanted that to be true in mine as
well. So, I followed the formula they presented: I spoke the Word over myself,
I thanked God for my healing, I decreed and declared that I was healed, and I
sowed money into ministry in faith, believing I would receive my healing. I
even convinced myself that God had told me He was going to heal me—that it was
going to happen.
And
yet, nothing changed. The only conclusion I could draw was that the problem was
me. I didn’t have enough faith. How much more did I need? What if I gave up and
my healing was only a day away? I was torn. I thought I had enough faith—after
all, I knew God could heal me. But did I truly believe He would heal me? “Lord,
help my unbelief!”
SOMETHING
I COULD NO LONGER IGNORE:
During all of this decreeing and declaring—hearing
about the supposed power of our words and the power of positive confession—I
kept having a nagging feeling that something wasn’t right. At times, it almost
seemed as though this “positive confession” was less about faith and more like
trying to cast magic spells.
One
thing those who have never been part of this movement may not realize is that
Word of Faith pastors talk about the Bible a lot and quote Scripture often, but
most of the time they are pulling isolated verses (for example, “By His
stripes I am healed”) out of their true biblical context. I discovered this
for myself as I began studying the Bible in preparation for sermons. There it
was, plain as day—I could not ignore the context of Scripture. The problem was,
the more I understood the context, the more the Word of Faith teachings began
to unravel right before my eyes.
STRUGGLING
TO STAY:
Over the next few years, I grew increasingly restless
in my spirit. The deeper I went into the Word, the less I found myself agreeing
with the teachings of the Word of Faith. These people were my family, and I
loved them, but I could no longer ignore the reality that something was wrong.
I never doubted God—I knew Christianity was true, and I had no desire to walk
away from the faith. But I became convinced that there were teachings and
theologies I needed to separate myself from.
A
FOUNDATION BUILT ON SAND: Looking back, I can see
God’s hand in all of this. I can see how He led me into the Word of Faith
movement, and how He ultimately led me out of it. Jeff eventually left his job
at UPS and began working in a civil service position flying helicopters. In April
of 2012, he informed us that he would be going to Afghanistan for six weeks,
returning sometime in late May or early June. In Jeff’s absence, people began
leaving the church, and it was very noticeable. Around August, Teresa decided
that something needed to be done. She called a secret meeting, blamed the
departures on the associate pastor, Bill, and fired him.
Teresa
initially wanted me to step in as associate, but I told her I was not going to
do that. Instead, it was decided that some of us would take turns preaching
until Jeff came home. We were nearly finished with the meeting when Kim walked
in, wondering what in the world was going on. Though Bill and Kim stayed with
the church until the end, they were devastated by how things unfolded. I’ve
visited with them over the years, and it’s clear they still carry the hurt.
When my brother and I got home, we both knew we would have to leave the church.
But we had no idea what we were going to do or where we were going to go. For
the next few months, we committed to fasting and praying for direction. Our
sister left shortly after that meeting, following a sharp letter she wrote to
Teresa.
There
was a lady named Joyce who had begun teaching a Sunday morning Bible school
class before Jeff left. Joyce had always been a little eccentric in her
beliefs. She and her husband, Clark, owned a cattle ranch in Missouri, and
their plan was to raise cattle to feed Christians who were saved after the
Rapture. During one class, Joyce claimed she had heard Kenneth Copeland (whom
she adored) say that Christians could pray to Kenneth Hagin, and Hagin would
take their requests to God. In Copeland’s defense, I don’t believe she actually
heard him say this—I think she made it up and pinned it on Copeland so people
wouldn’t call her a heretic.
I
mention this because Joyce was one of the volunteers who stepped in to teach
and preach after Bill was removed. Her “sermon” was on “the world that was.”
She taught that there had been a creation before the creation in Genesis, with
people who lived before Adam and Eve. According to her, they were terribly
evil, so God wiped them out completely, and salvation was not possible for
them. When God created the world and everything in it a second time, she said,
He knew He needed a plan in case things went wrong again, so He provided Jesus
for us. She ended her sermon with something like, “Now I know a lot of you
have probably never heard this before. But it’s something to think about.”
When
I got home, I called a couple of the other worship team members to get their
opinion on what she said. Much to my surprise, their response was, “It’s
something to think about.” That was the moment my brother, my grandmother,
and I knew it was time to leave.
I
called Teresa and told her we were leaving the church. She said she wasn’t
surprised, but thought we were making a mistake, explaining, “God will not
tell you to leave one place without first providing another place to go.” I
told her I wasn’t sure about that, but I knew we had to leave. I also told her
I wanted to attend one more youth service so I could tell the kids.
That
Wednesday, before youth service, my former youth pastors showed up to stage an
“intervention” for my brother and me. We talked for quite a while, but
eventually the husband realized our minds were made up and they weren’t going
to change them. He warned me that a pastor wasn’t just going to take me in and
let me start teaching youth right away. I agreed, but told him I still had to
go.
During
this time, I felt like Abraham—called to leave my home for a place I did not
know. I also felt like Peter—knowing that Jesus held the keys to life, knowing
I could not abandon the faith, but also knowing I had to find faith beyond the
Word of Faith. The theology of the Word of Faith movement was built on a
foundation of sand, and the tide was coming in.
CONCLUSION
It
is understandable that some people would like to accept the positive confession
teaching. It promises a life free from problems, and its advocates seem to
support it with passages of Scripture. Problems develop, however, when Bible
statements are isolated from their context and from what the rest of Scripture
has to say concerning the subject. Extremes result which distort truth and
eventually hurt believers as individuals and the cause of Christ in general…
While
I haven’t spoken much about it in this writing, my grandma struggled
tremendously under the weight of Word of Faith teachings. She had battled
depression throughout her life, and the doctrine only deepened that struggle.
Like many within the movement, she could not understand why she didn’t seem to
have enough faith to see the “manifestations” of her “confessions.”
Shortly
after leaving The Cross Family Worship Center, I visited Bill and Kim. It was
then that I began to really see the damage Word of Faith teaching had caused in
their lives. Their son David, as a young teenager, became heavily involved in
drugs. Yet they felt they could not talk about it or seek help, because doing
so would “not be in faith.” They were told they simply needed to keep claiming
that David was not a drug addict.
As
for The Cross Family Worship Center, only about six people remained. When Jeff
returned in November of that year, they had to leave the building they were
renting, and the small group began meeting in his house.
In
2016, Jeff was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He died a year later at the age
of 56—the same age his father had been when he also died of stomach cancer. I
only saw Jeff once after leaving The Cross. I was at Wal‑Mart when I ran into
him and Teresa, and I told him that I loved him.
After
Jeff’s death, those who had been attending the house‑church eventually joined
an Assembly of God congregation—the second one I attended. I still see them and
talk with them from time to time, and they all serve in one way or another
within the church. I cannot express how thankful I am for this.
Teresa
didn’t make the transition as easily as everyone else. In fact, for quite some
time she did not attend any church at all. Instead, she became deeply involved
in far‑right politics.
In
2024, I ran into her at a doctor’s office. She was on oxygen, and I wouldn’t
have recognized her if her daughter hadn’t been with her. She explained that
she had developed pneumonia some time earlier and had been placed on oxygen.
She was there to find out what was going on and whether she could be taken off
of it.
On
October 5, 2025, Teresa died. When I heard the news, I called my former youth
pastor to learn what had happened. It turned out she had been diagnosed with
breast cancer in 2024 but had refused to undergo treatment. When I saw her at
the doctor’s office, she had just returned from an extended stay in Houston,
Texas, following her initial diagnosis.
I
don’t know if she ever truly admitted to herself that the Word of Faith
theology doesn’t work. In January of 2024, she posted the following…
I did find out, however, that when
Teresa came back home, she began attending church with the rest of them.
As
for me, I left The Cross Family Worship Center on October 14, 2012, after
Sunday morning service. That very night I attended Tularosa Community
Church—the Assembly of God congregation my mom had taken me out of when I was
seven. By then, they were on their second pastor since we had left. Pastor
Randy Borror and his wife Susan had been serving there for about two years.
That
night I gave Pastor Randy the short version: “I recently left my old church,
and I’m looking for a new one.” He told me he wanted to talk more about it
later in the week. After our conversation, we both agreed that I would begin a
new youth ministry in January of 2013. As it turned out, the church had been
praying for about two years for a youth minister and ministry—right around the
same time I had begun wrestling in my spirit about leaving The Cross.
After
a little over a year in ministry, I was appointed as an associate pastor. That
same year, I applied to the Berean School of the Bible, a correspondence
program through Global University.
Due
to health problems and the demands of full‑time ministry, it took me longer
than I would have liked to complete the program. Nevertheless, in 2022, a
little less than ten years later, I graduated from Global University, and in
April of 2024 I received my full ordination from the Assemblies of God.
In
2016, just days before my 30th birthday, my younger brother took me to the
hospital. The diagnosis: End Stage Renal Disease (kidney failure) caused by a
kidney infection. I went septic, and for a time things did not look good. As of
this writing, I am nearing ten years of being on dialysis.
It’s
interesting—those in the Positive Confession/Word of Faith movement would look
at a situation like this and conclude that (1) I didn’t have enough faith, (2)
I wasn’t confessing the right things, or (3) I had gross, unrepentant sin in my
life. But that’s not how I see it at all. Since this happened, my faith has
grown stronger than ever. I have learned to depend on God’s strength in ways I
never would have otherwise. Despite the challenges, I can and do trust God. I
can say with the three Hebrews: whether He delivers me or not, I will trust
Him.
In
2018, after my life began to settle and I adapted to dialysis, I launched a
website and online ministry called Sheep Among Wolves. The goal of SAW
is to provide solid, practical, and relevant apologetic and discipleship
teachings and resources to help Christians deepen and defend their faith. More
on this at the end.
Looking
ahead, 2026 will mark my seventeenth year in youth ministry, my twelfth year as
an associate pastor at Tularosa Community Church, and my eighth year in online
ministry with Sheep Among Wolves. I’m in this for the long haul, and I
believe there are great things ahead—we’re just getting started.
~fin~
ABOUT
SHEET AMONG WOLVES
OFFICIAL WEBSITE | https://www.sheepamongwolves.org/
YOUTUBE | https://www.youtube.com/sheepamongwolves
PODCAST | https://www.sheepamongwolves.org/podcast-directory
BLOG | https://www.sheepamongwolves.org/blog
CONTACT | https://www.sheepamongwolves.org/contact
SUPPORT | https://www.sheepamongwolves.org/support
FAITH BEYOND THE WORD OF FAITH
FACEBOOK GROUP | https/www.facebook.com/faithbeyondthewordoffaith
SOCIAL: INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, X
|
@sheepamongwlvs
PS. If you made it through this,
give yourself a star! You are now free to roam about the countryside!
