This Paper does not constitute a
critique of Dr. Deere's book. Rather, it is the setting forth of the author's
doctrinal demise, primarily in his own words. If a theological doctor could fatally
fall so easily, how much more vulnerable is the dispensationally loose pastor! Be
alert for similar signs, as illustrated below. If they begin to appear in your
church, rise up on your doctrinal feet and depart, forthwith!
1985 - SEEMINGLY STRONG STAND
I was
just completing my tenth year as a professor in the OT department at Dallas Theological
Seminary, and was entering my seventh year as one of the pastors at a Bible church in Fort
Worth.
My
main passion was teaching and preaching the Word of God. I believed that most of our
needs--or at least our most important needs--could be met through studying the Scriptures.
I had embraced a theological system that didn't leave God much room to help us in other
ways.
The
God I believed in and taught about wasn't as involved in our lives as he had been in the
lives of NT believers. For example, I knew God no longer gave the miraculous gifts of the
Spirit. I was confident that I could prove by Scripture, by theology, and by the witness
of church history that God had withdrawn the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit.
I was
also confident that he no longer spoke to us except through his written Word. Dreams,
visions, inner impressions, and the like, reeked of subjectivity. I certainly didn't need
God to speak to me with any of those subjective methods used with people in the Bible.
After all, I had the Bible now, and I was one of those people who also had
exceptionally good theology. If I had any problem at all, it was just figuring out how to
give more of myself to God (pp. 13-15).
HOWEVER!
My
wife had a different view than I did. She felt I needed something more from God. Over the
years she had watched my passion for God slowly drying up like the reservoirs in Southern
California during a drought. I wasn't conscious of losing my passion for God. I thought I
had just grown up. But she was concerned that I had become complacent and self-satisfied.
And she saw my attitude as an enemy of God's calling on our lives (p. 15).
FATAL CONFERENCE CHOICE
Late
in the fall the leadership of my church decided we would have a spring Bible conference.
After an elder meeting the chairman asked me whom I would like to have as speaker. Without
hesitation I replied I would like to ask Dr. John White
[charismatic], the British psychiatrist and Christian author.
He had
written about fifteen books at that time, all of which my wife and I had read. He was my
favorite popular author. We had been using his books for years in our SS classes. The
chairman of our elder board immediately agreed with my suggestion. We decided unanimously
to invite Dr.
White and hold the conference in April, even though we were sure that the miraculous gifts
of the Holy Spirit had ceased (pp. 21,22).
1986 - RUINOUS REVERSAL
I
spent a good deal of time from January to April studying the Scriptures [rightly divided?]
to discover what they said about healing and the gifts of the Spirit.
The
first time I had studied the Scriptures on these topics, I had not studied them with an
open mind. Godly and brilliant men told me that the Bible taught that the gifts of the
Spirit had passed out of existence with the death of the last apostle [cessation] and that
God only spoke through his written Word today.
When I
studied the Scriptures, therefore, it was not really to discover what they taught about
the gifts of the Spirit or what they taught about healing, but it was to gather more
reasons why God was not doing those things today.
But
from January to April of 1986, 1 questioned all my cessationist arguments in the light of
scriptural teaching. This time I tried to be as objective as I know how. By the time our
conference took place in April, a radical reversal had taken place in my thinking.
My
study of Scripture convinced me that God would heal and that healing ought to be a
significant part of the Church's ministry. I was also convinced that the Bible did
not
teach that the gifts of the Spirit had passed away. None of the cessationist
arguments were convincing to me any longer. I had also begun to believe that God could
speak apart from the Scriptures. These were conclusions I had reached by the time April
arrived and our conference was beginning (pp. 22,23).
ENTER DR. WHITE!
-- Of course Dr.
White was ready for Dr. Deere and his church, but now Dr. Deere was all too ready for Dr.
White. The four conference lectures were: Christ's Authority Over Temptation; Christ's
Authority Over Sin; Christ's Authority Over Demons; and Christ's Authority Over Disease.
During that time Dr. White took this naive
and vulnerable church through his paces, with numerous stories of signs and wonders,
hearings, and demon deliverances. In the process several of the church members were
"healed," with one lady being relieved of a "demon."
ENTER CHARISMATA
Our
church had been visited by a demon! I wondered what that would do for Sunday's attendance.
But more than that, I wondered what kind of strife and divisions might arise because of
it. The more I wondered, the more fear I felt creeping over me. I wasn't so sure I wanted
this new ministry of praying for the sick in our church if it meant people were going to
get emotional and demons were going to manifest themselves.
Then I
did something a trained theologian is never supposed to do. I sat down on the couch,
opened up my Bible at random, and began to read. I knew better than to do this. I
had made fun of people who expected God to speak to them out of a random passage, a sort
of "Bible roulette" [or Ouija board].
The
passage I opened to was Luke chapter eight, and my eyes fell immediately on the
twenty-sixth verse. That, of course, is the story of the
Gerasene demoniac. I read the whole beautiful story of how Jesus cast a legion of demons
out of a man and how the man returned to his right mind. Then I came to verse
thirty-seven, "Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to
leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left. I was
on the verge of doing just what the Gerasenes had done.
In
great mercy the Lord Jesus Christ had visited our church. He had sent the Holy Spirit to
prompt confession and to uncover hidden demonic power in order to strengthen and heal us.
And now I was on the verge of asking him to leave because I was afraid of how some people
might respond. I repented immediately and asked the Lord to forgive me. I told him that
anytime he wanted to deal with demons in our church, he had my blessing.
For the Charismatic, when the Spirit
"falls upon" a church, He brings signs and wonders, tongues, healing, and
demons! All of which is tantamount to modern-day blasphemy of the Spirit!
After
the conference was over, all of the elders and pastors agreed that we should start praying
regularly for the sick in our church. At the conclusion of our services we simply invited
anyone to come forward who wanted to receive Christ as their Savior or who wanted prayer
for spiritual, physical, or financial needs. We had no intention of becoming
charismatic (emphasis ours) (pp. 29,30).
During
my new adventure with the Lord, I had first been surprised by the Scriptures, and then I
had been surprised by the Spirit. But this was only the beginning (p. 32).
1987 - ENTER JOHN WIMBER & CO.
When I
first made contact with Dr. White I did not know that for the previous seven months he had
been living in Anaheim, California, and attending John Wimber's church. Dr. White told me
that if I ever had the opportunity, I should try to meet Wimber and talk with him about
healing.
Dr.
White said he could verify a number of significant healings that had taken place in
Wimber's ministry. After Dr. White left our church, I heard that Wimber was coming to Fort
Worth in about two weeks. He was to speak at Lake County Baptist Church (p. 33).
Lake County [Southern] Baptist Church of
Fort Worth is pastored by Jim Hylton, and is a favorite haunt of some of the most rabid
Southern Baptist charismatic leaders, such as Dudley Hall, Doug White, Jack Taylor, and
James Robison. This element traffics in leg-lengthening, bone manipulation, teeth filling,
and all sorts of demon deliverance. Every descending step that Dr. Deere takes lowers him
deeper into the quagmire of charismatic quackery.
THE WIMBER ROUTINE
I
decided to go hear Wimber on Thursday night, but I didn't feel comfortable about visiting
a Baptist church that had gone swimming in this new movement called "The Third
Wave." We arrived late, and after about thirty minutes of singing, the pastor, Jim
Hylton, a well respected and sought-after speaker among Southern Baptists, introduced John
Wimber.
At one
point Wimber interrupted his "clinic time" to admonish the audience.
"Listen, I am going to ask the Holy Spirit to come. You don't have to be afraid of demons or the Devil now. When you ask your Father for the
Holy Spirit, he doesn't give you snakes
and scorpions."
Then
he added, "The only demons that are going to manifest themselves are the ones you
brought with you." He did finally ask the Holy Spirit to come, and then he was
silent. About a full minute later, he looked up and said, "O.K. I think I know what
the Lord wants to do tonight. He has given me some words of wisdom for healing" (p.
35).
God
had given Wimber a revelation about someone in the audience he wanted to heal, so that not
only the person might be touched, but the whole body of believers might be edified. I
thought, This is incredible. This is just how Paul said the church was supposed
to be! (emphasis his) (p. 36) .
It was
a fascinating evening, one I shall never forget. It was the evening when our friendship
with John and Carol Wimber began, a friendship that would eventually lead to our working
together for four years (p. 37).
EXIT FROM DALLAS
During
1987, John Wimber and I became close friends. My wife and I went to several Vineyard
conferences during that time. We continued to learn more about healing and the present-day
ministry of the Holy Spirit, both in the Scriptures and in practical experience.
My
friendship with Wimber and my growing interest in the supernatural ministry of the Holy
Spirit eventually led me to resign from my church and resulted in my dismissal from my
teaching position at Dallas Seminary. Before I left Dallas Seminary, however, I met
another man who would also be divinely used to alter the course of my life. His name was
Paul Cain (pp. 37,38).
1988-1991 - WIMBER ASSISTANT
-- Dr.
Deere moved to Anaheim to become assistant pastor with John Wimber, and his number-one
theologian and scholar. In March of '89 John and Dr. Deere, accompanied by Paul Cain,
conducted a series of "Spiritual Warfare" conferences in Australia. Just prior
to the Sydney conference, several Evangelical leaders who had serious reservations
concerning the Signs and Wonders ministry, met with Wimber, Deere, and Cain.
The following notes recorded during the
confrontation are taken from the subsequent book, titled John Wimber, Friend or
Foe?, published by S. Mattheas Press, England:
(1) The Healing Ministry (the facts) -- The first issue we raised was the possible healing of children with Down's syndrome.
This genetic disease cannot be caused or healed by psychosomatic
"mind-over-matter" factors. It is an ideal "test case" disease, being
relatively easy to diagnose genetically before and after the "healing."
John Wimber claimed to have prayed over
more than 200 [!] children with Down's syndrome. To his disappointment only one of the 200
has shown any sign of healing. From a medical viewpoint, Wimber's 0.5% success rate with
Down's syndrome is less than that achieved through the ministrations of medical
professionals.
The implications this has for other
"healings" seemed to escape John completely. We know that many illnesses are
psychological or psychosomatic. We know of the placebo effect--where a patient takes what
he believes to be a cure for his problem (but which is a sugar pill), and improves. The
evidence thus far suggests that John Wimber "heals" in the "sugar
pill" area.
(Theological Significance) -- Given
the very low percentage of healings, we asked John if he considered that his healings were
like those of Jesus and the Apostles. He quickly and rightly saw that they were radically
different. We asked about the claims of his books, and his previous teaching that the
powerlessness of Evangelicals lay in their failure to pray for and claim the Signs and
Wonders of the Kingdom seen in Jesus and the Apostles.
John replied that thanks to the advice of
Jack Deere he has come to understand that the current "miracles" fit into the NT
not at the point of Jesus and the Apostles, but in 1 Corinthians 12-14 and the gifts of
healing.
This "change of mind" seriously
compromises the stance of the previous Signs and Wonders conferences, Vineyard Ministries,
and John's books. He was asked if he would explain this change of mind to the coming
Sydney Conference, but he declined.
(2) Power Evangelism -- One of the
most contentious aspects of Wimber's speaking and writing has been his distinction between
evangelism and power evangelism, with the resulting distinction between Christian
conversion, inferior and superior.
When we raised the matter, John expressed
dissatisfaction with his teaching both recently in Canberra (where he spoke of
"natural" and "supernatural" evangelism), and in his book,
Power
Evangelism. He explained that his book was not written by himself, but came from tapes
and notes of his seminars. He had not read the manuscript in detail or critically before
publication.
He agreed that the book was unbalanced,
lacking as it does any real exposition of the Gospel or evangelism. However, he said this
was due to the manner of composition, and plain oversight.
When asked to publicly repudiate this
false distinction (between natural and supernatural evangelism), and to withdraw his
erroneous book and to desist from talking of power evangelism, he equivocated. He agreed
that the book is wrong and needs re-writing, and that he was wrong in his address at
Canberra--but somehow John feels this is not a serious problem.
(3) Sufficiency of Scripture -- John Wimber was
keen to stand in the Evangelical tradition, upholding the inspiration and authority of the
infallible and inerrant Scriptures which are sufficient in all matters of the Christian
life. However, this was because he had not understood the implications of his "words
of wisdom," which go well beyond Scripture and play an essential part in his
Christian living.
John's advisor, Jack Deere, assured him
and us that he (Jack) did not believe in the sufficiency of Scripture. Thus, the ministry
of gifts is used to add to the Scriptures as the authoritative voice of God
for Christian living.
The meeting was concluded with our invitation to John Wimber, Jack
Deere, and Paul Cain to cancel the Spiritual Warfare Conference in Sydney and to return to
America--which suggestion John declined.
1990 - TOTAL DOCTRINAL DEGRADATION
-- At a Charismatic Conference here in the States, where Wimber and Deere were
the speakers, Dr. Deere was questioned in a friendly conversation, as follows:
Questioner: I wonder if you
might tell me why you felt my explanation of the Gospel given yesterday was defective. [I
said that Christ died for our sins, was buried, raised on the third day, and that it is
this Gospel by which we are saved.]
Dr.
Deere: I am not prepared to talk about that.
Questioner: Well, just offhand, what do you think the
Gospel is?
Dr. Deere: I am not
prepared to make a formal statement about that.
Questioner: Could you tell me informally what the
Gospel is?
Dr. Deere: I am not
sure.
Questioner: I find that
surprising--that you are not sure just what the Gospel is.
Dr.
Deere: I used to be just like you--thinking the Gospel was simply justification.
Questioner: Are you saying that the
Gospel is more than justification by faith?
Dr.
Deere: Yes.
Questioner: What would you add to it?
Dr. Deere:
Deliverance.
Questioner: What do you mean by deliverance?
Dr. Deere: Things like
demons and healing and....
Questioner: You would add as an essential part of the
saving Gospel things like exorcising of demons and healing?
Dr. Deere: Yes.
Questioner: But you are not sure exactly what should
be included?
Dr. Deere: No, not
yet.
Questioner: Would it be fair to say
that you are in a state of flux since joining the Wimber thing?
Dr. Deere: We are always in a state of flux--you
are....
Questioner: But in the Gospel message? Surely that is one thing we
should have worked out. Don't you think we can reduce the Gospel to some sort of summary
statement like Paul does in say 1 Corinthians 1 and 2, or 15; or 1 Thessalonians 4, or
Romans 5?
Dr.
Deere: [No response, except a shrug of the shoulders.]
Questioner: Do you think the Apostle
Paul had anything particular in mind when he wrote to Timothy and asked him to guard the
Gospel that had been entrusted to him? Are you saying that you couldn't go back into that
pavilion and tell those people the Gospel?
Dr.
Deere: No, not yet.
Questioner: When do you think you
could do it?
Dr.
Deere: Maybe five years, maybe ten....
(From Biblical Perspectives,
July-Aug. 1990, p. 5.)
In Biblical Perspectives,
Sept.-Aug. 1990, p.3, Dr. Thomas Ice reports that "Dr. Jack Deere gave a message
recently, entitled 'Joel's Army'--his explanation of what the Church is going to
be like in just a few years:
Heretofore
in history we have only had one Moses on the scene. Only one Elijah, and only one Elisha
at a time. Among the Apostles we only have one Paul, one John, one Peter--a few of those
were really outstanding.
Heretofore
we have only had one or two mighty servants of God on the face of the earth at a time.
This is not true any longer! When this army comes, Joel says, there will have been nothing
like it before. Revelation hints at this when it talks about the 144,000 that follow the
Lamb wherever He goes. A powerful Army with many Pauls, and many Moseses, and many
Davids.
"Dr. Deere is saying that the
soon-coming Latter Rain revival will be carried out by those who are in 'Joel's
Army,' which he also equates with the 144,000 witnesses from Revelation 7. Dr. Deere
has gone a long way from what he was as one of my Hebrew professors at Dallas
Seminary!"
DISPENSATIONAL BREAKDOWN
--
Yes, all
the way down in just a few brief years. One might ask in shocked amazement, How could a
long-time Dallas professor fall from the Dallas doctrinal level to the subjective skid-row
degradation of Charismatic craziness--all the while convinced that he had risen from
Dallas doctrinal depths to the very height of Charismatic wonders? Actually, it isn't very
difficult.
If Dr. Deere had been dispensationally
established, rightly dividing the Word of truth, he never would have succumbed to the
kingdom level of the John White ministry. Ever since Dr, Chafer's Homegoing, the Dallas
trend has been to flatten out to the horizontal kingdom level, from Paul's vertical stance
of the heavenly Church.
While Dr. Deere was dismissed because his
dispensational breakdown turned him to the left into Arminianism, other Dallas professors
have been dismissed because their failure to rightly divide the Word of truth turned them
to the right, into the Covenant realm. Today the vast majority of the Dallas faculty and
administration have a proclivity to Covenantism--all the while remaining in good
repute, as
dispensationalists.
INCONGRUITY -- In recent promotional
material for the Journal of the [Covenant] Reformation & Revival organization, I noted
the name of a veteran Dallas professor listed on their Advisory Council. He was also
quoted as considering their Journal as his favorite. In writing to this professor I
granted that it was his prerogative to assist and promote Covenantism in that manner--but
as a faculty member of Dallas Theological Seminary?
In his kind reply the professor seemed to
be unaware of any incongruity in his straddling stance--a rolling model. He stated that
our land desperately needs revival [!], hence he seeks to work with this revival-oriented
organization to that end. He insisted that he is not into Progressive Dispensationalism,
or Covenantism, although his ecclesiastical heritage and theological preferences are in
the Reformed tradition.
He has written articles for the
Reformation & Revival Journal, which of course could not be in any way
dispensationally positioned. He has also spoken at Ligonier Conferences, headed by R.C.
Sproul. There his messages could not be on the side of Dispensationalism. He also writes
for the Modern Reformation periodical.
He made it known to me that he had
recently informed Dr. Thomas Ice that he declined to participate any longer in the
Pre-Trib Study Group. He closed his letter by saying that his actions as to the interest
of Dallas are to be judged by the Seminary, and thus far no one has aired any
"disappointment." Now I am really disappointed!
STAND!
-- Dear dispensational friend,
pray for these pathetic victims of Charismatic chaos, as well as for those in the house of
Dr. Chafer who countenance Covenantism. Stay with Paul, Mr. Darby, Dr. Scofield, and Dr.
Chafer for the development of your Christian life and service.
"Study to show thyself approved
unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of
truth" (2 Tim. 2:15).
What is it to "walk in the
Spirit"'? It is not self-occupation, nor even occupation with the Spirit. Walking
according to the Spirit is occupation with the glorified Lord Jesus Christ. If the
believer ever looks to the Lord Jesus, depends upon Him, abides in Him above, draws all
his needs from the True Vine, if He is his All--then the believer walks according
to the Spirit. --A. Gaebelein
- Miles J. Stanford
- January 1995
Postscripts:
1995 -- Today John
Wimber is ill with cancer, the Vineyard movement is a dead issue, Dr. Deere has departed
and is now on his own--speaking in Charismatic circles and writing Charismatic material.
1996 to the
Present -- John Wimber died November 17, 1997
at the age of 63 from a massive brain hemorrhage. Jack Deere
continued in his role as 'theologian-in-residence' for the Vineyard churches and to infect non-charismatic churches with the charismatic plague.
Subsequently, his has establish a megachurch in Ft. Worth, Texas...under his
"anointed teachings."
Email:
Subject: Jack Deere
I have read many negative things on the web about
Jack Deere including your website. Having read Jack Deere's book
Surprised by the Spirit, I thought that I would look on the Internet
to see if anyone has critiqued it from a cessationist view. I was
disappointed. I found many personal attacks on Dr. Deere but no
one who was willing to engage with the scriptures that he uses to refute
the cessationist view. I can only conclude that the reason no one
tries to refute them is that they are irrefutable!
How sad when Christians engage in emotional attacks
rather than in reasoned dialogue. Surely if you and others like you
are convinced that Dr Deere is wrong you would want to lovingly
correct him? If he is wrong I would have thought that you would have
wanted to correct him using the Word. Perhaps it is the case that your
position is so weak that the only way that you can attack is by
attacking the character of your opponents. If what he says is against
the word of God prove it from the word of God. Look at his scriptural
arguments and show how he has misinterpreted scripture. Don't just make
personal attacks. [This message has been edited to correct
numerous misspellings. Its author did not leave a return address,
so we were unable to dialogue regarding his own emotional concerns.]
Dear Signed:
First, it appears you failed to read the first two sentences of Mr.
Stanford’s article. “This Paper does not constitute a critique of Dr.
Deere's book. Rather, it is the setting forth of the author's doctrinal
demise, primarily in his own words.” Second, Mr. Stanford's
paper does not, for good reason, engage the cessationist versus non-cessationist
debate. To date, this so-called dialogue often yields more
heat than light. Why is this? Because for charismatics,
experience trumps all. For them, it is not a matter of
reason nor Scripture, but their own subjective encounters.
Thus, your comment, “How sad when Christians engage in emotional
attacks rather than in reasoned dialogue” is rather hypocritical,
given your own emotionally charged "attack", together with the fact that you
failed to leave a valid email address so that I might provide a
response. Hit and run.
Brother Miles Stanford went far beyond the cessationist debate.
In 1972, he authored a short booklet—THE
LINE DRAWN— that reinforces the wall of separation between
safe and sound biblical Christianity and realm of charismania.
That wall was broken down back in the ‘50s by one Billy Graham, whose
ecumenical activities have been the bane on the Body of Christ ever since.
Mr. Stanford, as well as thousands of other Christian believers,
recognize the reality (truth) that some individuals can move to a point
where “loving” correction is of little or no value. That is
largely the case for the charismatic/Pentecostal movement. A rare
exception does occur from time-to-time (we receive their testimonies
here), but never amongst the so-called leaders.