Warning over 'possible deceptions'
PEOPLE being brought back from the dead or healed may have all the traits of modern-day miracles – but that doesn't mean God is behind them.
That is the warning from campaigner Cecil Andrews, who runs a website called www.takeheed.net to warn Christians about "what we perceive to be deceptions, or possible deceptions".
He said that while so-called "cults" might spring to mind as examples, "more and more over the years we have seen such issues within Christendom, and as many inside it as outside it".
Mr Andrews believes that recent reports about the Florida meetings at Lakeland are attempts to "recycle the phenomenon of the 1990s, when the same thing happened in Toronto".
The Toronto Blessing is a term coined by the Press describing the revival and resulting phenomena that began in January 1994 at a church in Toronto. Participants reported healings and incidents of personal transformation.
But Mr Andrews and his supporters claim these kind of acts are unscriptural and many even bear resemblance to effects of non-Christian religions.
"God's blessing is not transferable from one person to another," he explained.
He said that the idea of clergymen travelling to meet people like Todd Bentley in Florida, to obtain the ability of administering healing to other people, was contrary to the Scriptures.
Mr Andrews said he was certain that many people have experienced what they believe to be miraculous healings or experiences.
But he warned: "We need to keep in mind that just because something works doesn't mean it is God.
"The Bible tells us that Satan can transfer into an angel of light."
He admitted that he had concerns that the people claiming to have been touched by these happenings would be left "emotionally upset and disillusioned".
Mr Andrews is due to appear on the BBC's Sunday Sequence programme this weekend where he will feature as part of a panel debating the whole issue of miracles.
Pastor Brian Madden, from the Elim Church in Tigers Bay, is also believed to be taking part.
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Tuesday 29 May 2012
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