This might seem like a premature word but my task right now is to prepare people for what is to come. Leaders in particular, whilse focussing on the tasks before them in the here-and-now, must also be divinely goal-oriented to some extent, knowing where they are going so that they can lead their people aright.

In these last days before economic collapse the emphasis is on spiritual prepping - getting the inner man ready for what is to come by getting properly aligned with Yahweh. There is one other important thing that needs to be done, though, and that is prepping not just for collapse but for after collapse. We need to know what and how we are to build after the world has fallen apart and is getting back on its feet again.

Here, I know, we differ from most Christians and Messianics who are convinced, once again (every generation or two goes through this), that collapse will unfold into Great Tribulation, and Great Tribulation into Second Coming and Millennium (or Heaven if you don't yet believe in that). But as I have said, many, many times, this is none of these. What we are about to go through may seem to be all of these things but (as everyone will realise eventually) a counterfeit manufactured by Satan which Yahweh, in His wisdom and through His steering (which Satan cannot control), is using as a dress-rehearsal for His own sheep while the goats are led by the nose-ring to destruction.

When the economic collapse comes, lots of other things will collapse too, including most of the self-professing 'Body of Christ', as the counterfeit is stripped away from the genuine. One group, calling itself 'The Last Reformation', was founded by the Dane, Torben Søndergaard, who thinks we need to get back to the Book of Acts and live as the first apostles lived. I can't argue with that, but they're not the first to say this. Similar groups have been around since the 1960's. They reason that Christianity has gone through four principle corruptions when the:

• 1. Greeks turned the Gospel into a Philosophy;
• 2. Romans turned the Gospel into an Institution;
• 3. Europeans turned the Gospel into a Culture; and
• 4. Americans turned the Gospel into a Business.

They spend most of their time on the streets healing people...and there's no doubt a power to heal accompanies them...and witnessing using the effective Ray Comfort methodology in order to convict of sin using the Ten Commandments. Whatever you may think about these people, their simplicity and apparent effectiveness is arresting. Is this a New Testament work in operation? Is this the way we are to go now, during and post collapse? I was about to enthusaistically endorse what they were doing when I heard them declaring some old heresies - they babble like contemporary charismatic tongue-speakers and they make speaking in these so-called tongues a test of the Baptism of the Ruach (Spirit). I knew then that something was seriously amiss. Tongues is something I know a lot about.

We must be very careful how we assess new works (supposedly) of Elohim (God). The gift of healing is a highly attractive proposition, especially when you're ill. Yah'shua (Jesus) used it all the time, as did the apostles. Cessationists like John MacArthur and Baptists in general would argue that such things were only for 'back then', and then only to establish the fledgling Messianic Community (Church). Personally I don't agree with that conclusion because the impression I get reading the Scriptures overall is that all the gifts, and more, are to characterise the qodeshim (saints,set-apart ones) until Messiah comes back. To that observation I must add two others:

• 1. There are always counterfeits of the gifts, especially showy ones like healing, prophesying and supernaturally speaking in foreign languages ('tongues') - I have been around long enough to have seen these things in all kinds of religions, including Satanism; and

• 2. When counterfeits manifest in the Body they do so usually in a defective context of lawlessness or some other distortion, supplying a damaged vessel which itself distorts whatever Yahweh might want to do through a people, giving Satan numerous wedges.

I have been around Pentecostals long enough to know that they manifest both true and false gifts, particularly in that sticky area, which is their hallmark, called "tongues". I have heard fleshy and oftentimes demonic 'babble' as well as the occasional true manifestation of a foreign language being used to convert and edify unbelievers according to the biblical pattern (tongues is not for self-edification). On the other hand, I have heard Mormons and Satanists supernaturally speak in foreign languages too, moved by the spirits that inhabit their own religions. So it cuts both ways. Likewise I have come across supernatural healing performed by Satanists, Mormons, Shamanists and others.

There is, however, a price to pay in receiving and utilising counterfeits, and I talked about the spiritual short-circuiting that takes place because of this compromise yesterday. Satan exacts a heafty toll for making use of his 'gifts'. And, yes, even so-called born-again Christians and Torah-obedient Messianics use these dark gifts, even if ignorantly for the most part. And what happens is that areas of their life progressively shut down.

The Besorah (Gospel) of Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) is a package deal founded on emunah (faith) in Yahweh and Torah-obedience. You can neither add to it nor strip it down to those elements which you particularly prefer against those which you do not. Is Yahweh doing a 'new reformation'? Certainly, He is always in the business of reforming though I would challenge the assertion that he is reforming the old Reformation per se for He is also about Restoration - bringing to pass truths which the Reformers (Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, etc.) failed to do, for whatever reason. But even Reformation and Restoration are incomplete because Yahweh is also bringing forth a new thing in addition to these things, things previously hidden and not revealed, anointings never before received because they are reserved for the very end of the 'end time' so that certain tasks can be carried out by the Remnant which previous generations of qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) had no need of.

I am not about to surrender or abandon everything Yahweh has been doing in my life simply because a group of Protestants seems to possess something I do not yet possess, in their case, the gift of healing. As one who is very ill, you can imagine the huge personal draw and great attraction and temptation on my part to this (it's not the first time, I might add), and I would love this to be true. Perhaps Yahweh is doing something amongst these people, I cannot absolutely judge it at this stage, because there are good things there (as in so many groups) but certainly I see some wrong things that include 'tongues' and other charismatic manifestations. Their demand that tongues be spoken by all believers is in direct contradiction of Scripture which says the gift (and the authentic gift at that) is only for some (1 Cor.12:28-30). Certainly persecution is starting to come their way, something that evokes sympathy on my part if for no other reason than the secular world loathes Yah'shua (Jesus) and any criticism of its immorality [1]. We can, and should, pray for them without agreeing with their errors.

All I can do is testify of what He has done in my life and wait patiently for things I believe I need and leave it to His timing. I also have, I think, a fairly good grasp of Scripture. Looking at 'Last Reformation' theology and it has the look of a smörgåsbord of Lutheran, pentecostal and charismatic teachings, without any real system. Søndergaard is very anti-authority and anti-structure like the 'Jesus Freaks' before him and holds a very dim view of the systems that birted Ravenhill, Moody, Spurgeon and others (who by his definition...since they never spoke in 'tongues'...could not have been baptised in the Spirit). Likewise, for him, Experience seems to trump theology, very dangerous path given all the counterfeits. Their idea of deliverance, typically charismatic, causes me great concern too, because they don't address root issues at all. Speaking in gibberish (there is plenty of 'da-da-da-da-da'-type gibberish) is central to what they call 'kickstarting' the spiritual life. Indeed the big question I have to ask the people this movement is this: who 'kickstarted' it? Who was the first one who 'received' this impartation and then passed it on from one person to the next?

We are all being taken through spiritual processes leading to a vital end-time work and it is not for us to change, modify or interrupt what the Ruach (Spirit) is doing. We each of us have to be true to the Davar (Word) and our calling whilst at the same time neither being so close-minded that Yahweh cannot reach us or so open-minded that our brains fall out. Yahweh uses people where they are, individually and denominationally, and urges them on through the sweet whisperings of the Ruach (Spirit) to follow Him more.

Whatever Yahweh has authentically given to you, share it, remaining cautiously open to what Yahweh may be doing to other believers around you coming from different backgrounds. But be sure to test everything rigorously. If it contradicts the Word, reject it, no matter what 'wonders' may be taking place, and to me the 'Last Reformation' does just that in a number of key places. You don't need to speak in any form of 'tongues' either to be saved, born-again or baptised in the Ruach (Spirit). Time will prove where this latest charismatic movement goes.

The Final Gathering will not take place in a day (which is why we need another generation) so I counsel you not to try and rush Yahweh, for such leads to detours and unnecessary suffering. Yahweh works in many mysterious ways and we must not interfere with them. All we can do is walk in, and witness of, His salvation and emet (truth) and let the Ruach (Spirit) do the rest. If He gives you the gift of healing, wonderful; or the gift to speak foreign languages supernaturally for the edification of unbelievers, wonderful; but let us not demand or expect what he has not promised and make sure that what we see aligns with the Word. I shall follow the 'Last Reformation' with interest but equally with a heafty dose of scepticism regarding the spiritual origin of its tongues, exorcism and healing.

Endnotes

[1] Jessica Haworth, 'Cult' whose leader claims 'demons cause autism' spreads to Britain (The UK Mirror Newspaper, 7 May 2016).

Further Reading

[1] See our website on Healing
[2] See our website on Deliverance
[3] See our website on Tongues

Comments from Readers

[1] "This is becoming a big thing in Northern Ireland. There is 'healing on the streets' of Coleraine (County Derry) pioneeered by the Vineyand Church. People do get healed...yet, that brand of church is one of the most manipulative and lawless I've ever encountered. Can we put it down to just...sometimes Yahweh uses these people, and nothing else?" (SP, Ireland, 7 September 2016).

Author's Reply: "Wherever there is truth coupled to faith, Yahweh is there in some degree. Where the truth and faleshood begin and end is the tricky question, especially when they manifest in such outwardly similar ways..." (7 September 2016).

[2] "X and I have been there (at a Last Restoration assembly) now since yesterday. I made some videos, which I can send you. From the baptism, and the driving out of the demons. They are driving out demons from everyone who is being baptised. And while/after driving out demons the exorcist speaks in tongues and (tries to) imparts the 'gift of the holy spirit' aka tongues to the person. Too bad Torben views tongues as evidence for the giving of the Holy Spirit. It's great though that he talks about repentance from sin as prerequisite for being baptised. My current standpoint on tongues is that it very much is a psychic thing, which brings some benefits for the psyche. Psychic blockages are loosed. Feelings can flow from the heart.. The language center in the brain is being shut off - that means access is being given to the subconscious areas. I think this makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?" (SW, Germany, 11 September 2016).

Author's Reply: Living a life dedicated to Yahweh, dying to self, overcoming the flesh, THIS is the evidence of Yahweh's power in us. But if people are simply looking for an experience, then the enemy will have a field day in giving those to us, including supernatural ones.

Paul teaches that we are in control of whatever passes in or through our psyche. Thus one speaking in authentic tongues or prophesying can say 'No' and it will stop if it is of Yahweh. ("The spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets", etc. - 1 Cor.14:32, KJV). If the power manifested overcomes you, and you have no control over it, then the fundamental law of volition (free will) is being violated and it is NOT of Yahweh. And if the 'language centre' of the brain is being shut down, by which we confess our emunah (faith) in Yah'shua (Jesus) in words that all can hear (e.g. 2 Tim.2:19), then what does that tell you? Saying "dadadadada" is not a witness of anything save confusion, and Elohim is not the author of confusion, but of truth and life.

As someone recently commented to me (see Comment #1 above), such manifestations usually evidence extreme lawlessness. Yes, it is good that this group speaks of repentance, but what use is it if it leads to disobedience? Like Ray Comfort who uses the 10 commandments to convict of sin, Sørengaard does not take the next obvious and logical step and teach his followers to obey all those mitzvot (commandments)! And obedience to the mitzvot (commandments) is the evidence of properly administered and received salvation.

Healing is a HUGE carrot - anything out-of-the-ordinary is to psychically depleted people who refuse the spirital gift of eternal life if it does not at first give them a psychic kick. The promise of physical healing was a HUGE draw to me, what with all my illness, when you first shared that website to me, but then I realised the spiritual price I was required to pay, denying so many biblical truths Yahweh has unmistakably revealed to me.

This is a counterfeit, pure and simple - it begins, not with the Besorah (Gospel), but with healing or with something calling itself 'tongues' that is common to many pagan religions! That is the wrong way round. And then, when the Besorah (Gospel) IS administered, it is only half or incompletely given, leaving the door open for Satan's mischief-making. Administering the symbol of dying to self (water baptism) and then making it THE central event out of which everything else flows (tongues, psychic well-being, etc.), is back to front. The Mormons also claim that the baptismal event literally washes away sins, and not a few fundamentalist Christians. The Catholics certainly believe it.

This movement is simply an old heresy repackaged and spiced up with something supernatural - the lure (whether healing, tongues, psychic titillation, or whatever). I am not saying this is a premeditated act on the part of its founder - most who start new Christian movements are well-intentioned but deceived, especially when they come out of partial-gospel backgrounds like Lutheranism. And what, in any case, has the psyche got to do with the Besorah (Gospel) of Salvation? We are nowhere all promised in the Scripture one particular gift (like tongues), nor are we promised immunity from disease. Do healings take place? Certainly, as Yahweh wills, for His purposes, as illustrated so well by the story of the blind man who was healed (John 9). And yes, Yah'shua (Jesus) and the first apostles did a lot of healing, but was everyone healed? And did ALL the talmidim (disciples) have the gift? Not according to Paul. And the apostle Paul was not healed of his "thorn", was he? (Reason: to keep him humble). The Book of Acts is but one part of the Good News.

We should not be surprised at such manifestations in our day and age. Yah'shua (Jesus) prophesied that many would come and even the elect would be deceived for a while (Mt.24:24). You can imagine what else is yet to come to convince even the more spiritually robust.

Have you heard of the Buddhafield Cult? They do many things charismatics do including speaking in tongues and being 'slain in the spirit'. And though this is a completely different religion, what is chilling is just how similar aspects of the PSYCHIC life of it is to charismatic Christians. Same type of CARROT. Any group which lays its emphasis on the psychic HAS to have something convincing and intoxicating. How it is sugar-coated does not matter, whether with Buddhist or Gospel doctrine, which doesn't matter as it isn't the CORE. For all cults EXPERIENCE is the first and main thing (for Mormons, the burning in the bosom of the 'Holy Ghost'). But experience is NOT the first or main thing in the Besorah (Gospel) - it is EMUNAH - FAITH. Experiences certainly follow but only as Yahweh wills and rarely in a consistent manner, a reason why, I believe, Yahweh distributes the gifts in the Body so as to preclude this kind of deception. I recommend you study up on the Buddhafield Cult as it is very instructive - here are some links to get you going: