INTRODUCTION

One of my favorite passages of Scripture over the last few years has been Ecclesiastes chapter three. Maybe some of you have heard me teach or preach from it a few times this past season. Maybe you’ve heard a Beatles song based upon it!

I first felt the Lord quicken this passage to me during 2020 and all the chaos that defined that year. In the midst of such uncertainty and upheaval, like many I found myself searching the Scriptures, seeking to anchor my faith in the eternal so I would not be overtaken by momentary troubles. That’s when I read these beautiful words, which have stayed with me in a powerful way ever since:

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.”

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.”

— Ecclesiastes 3:1&11

I’ve learned over the course of my life that when God says “everything”, He really does mean everything. When God says there’s a beauty to be found in every season, even the hard seasons, He really means it (Ecc. 3:2-10). We just have to stay connected to God and open our hearts to see that beauty and appreciate it, no matter how unsettling and difficult things may be.

For me, a real season of difficulty began before the pandemic of 2020, in the year 2019, when I discovered my ministry mentor and childhood hero in the faith was a predator and false prophet. Not only that, I also learned that many of my heroes in the faith that had spiritual oversight over my mentor knew about his predation and decided to repackage it as “bumps in the road” or “innocent mistakes” for his restoration journey. Rather than calling it what it was, which was the sick and sinful behavior of a wolf, they skillfully rebranded it all and made my mentor into the victim, even though he victimized countless people who had been under his ministerial authority for years.

I didn’t know it at the time, but because of those traumatic events, along with what followed in the broader Charismatic movement in terms of exposure, my life and ministry would never be the same. My life couldn’t be the same, and I had to struggle through the implications of that for many years to come. Many have had to face this same painful reality which I have had to face these last few years, and if that’s you I want you to know you’re not alone. We’re in this together, and we’re here to encourage one another, pray for each other, and help each other through this difficult time and season.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF EGREGIOUS SIN AND MASSIVE EXPOSURE

There’s no other way for me to say this, so I’ll just come out and say it. Since the time that I was forced to publicly expose my mentor, along with the popular Charismatic prophetic ministry that covered for him, there’s been a movement of exposure and cleansing in the Charismatic Church unlike anything the Charismatic movement has ever seen. It’s been a shaking of historical proportions.

Nearly every Apostolic Hub and major ministry of influence in the New Apostolic Reformation Movement have been exposed at one level or another since the exposure of Todd Bentley and Rick Joyner in 2019. It’s been a mixed bag of outcomes, experiences, as well as emotions as tens of thousands of people have had to wrestle with the implications of their leaders being exposed for egregious sins at such a high level.

When this kind of upheaval occurs, there are always far-reaching consequences which very few are able to see or understand in advance. One of those consequences is the shaking and shipwrecking of many people’s faith in ways they would have never thought possible (1 Tim. 1:19). I have been affected by these far-reaching consequences. Maybe you have too. I have changed in inescapable ways which I never thought I would prior to this season, but I’m choosing to trust God in those changes. I’m choosing to trust that God has a plan for my life as well as the greater body of Christ. I’m resting in the knowledge that none of these events came as a surprise to God, and that He’s causing it all to work together for my good, as well as the good of His body, as He has promised in His word (Rom. 8:28).

I believe that God is causing all of these tragedies, let downs, and exposures to play a vital role in the hearts and lives of many Charismatics, for shaping us into the men and women of God that He’s ultimately called us to be. In the midst of all this, I believe He’s beckoning us to trust Him with the things that are outside our control. He’s asking us to trust Him to mold us into the people we were also meant to be, even if it looks nothing like we thought it was supposed to be. This is probably hard for a lot of Charismatics who have been taught that they can control the universe through having the “God’s General level of faith”. But this is also part of the change that God is asking of us as a people. Some of our most revered erroneous teachings have not served us well during this season of crisis, and it’s time to let go of those things that have not held up under the pressure. It’s time to come back to God’s word with fresh eyes and an open heart and allow Him to correct us where we need it with Scriptural truth.

GOD’S KEEPING GRACE IN MY LIFE

By God’s grace, I have not suffered the shipwreck of my faith like many in this day that have been overcome by an unhealthy post-modern type deconstruction which has led them away from Christ and His church. I’ve felt anger, I’ve wrestled with the betrayal and sin of my leaders, and I’ve struggled with extreme disillusionment at times. But by God’s grace, I have clung to the cross in my deepest moments of despair and confusion, and I honestly feel I have been refined and transformed to be more like Christ through it all. And for that I am eternally grateful!

For many years, I traveled the world engaging in Charismatic Revival Ministry, feeling like I was a part of a movement that was preparing the way of the Lord in a special way through massive global outpouring and awakening. And although I still believe that I was involved in a lot of good work which will bear eternal fruit to the glory of God moving forward, I’ve also come to realize that much of that fruit will be borne in spite of me and the movement I was part of, rather than because of us. And the same could be said about the church as a whole. God uses imperfect leaders, flawed individuals, and dysfunctional laborers in the harvest who have imperfect theology and doctrine. What’s happened in the Charismatic Church should be a sobering reminder to the entire body about how wrong things can go when we think more highly of ourselves than we ought to (Rom. 12:3).

Not everything I saw or was involved in was bad or unredeemable, but what I’ve had to come to grips with is this: I’ve changed because of what I’ve experienced and what has been exposed. And that’s why I’m writing these words today, to you my friends and partners, because I want to be honest and forthright with you about some of those changes, which I think is both right and appropriate for every minister to do.

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FACING FACTS ABOUT THE CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT AND THE NAR

I was born and raised in a Pentecostal church, which my family has deep generational ties to. I’ve been involved in the Charismatic Church for most of my life, since I was first impacted by the movement and its leaders going back to the early 2000s when I was a teenager growing up in Alaska.

As a young man developing in my faith and maturing in my manhood there in Alaska, I became enraptured through the stories told and the experiences conveyed by the most influential leaders in the Charismatic Church. Like many in the NAR, my mind and heart were set aflame with the wonder and awe of Mike Bickle glory stories, Bob Jones visions, and Paul Cain prophecies of stadium revival that would usher in the return of Christ. I really felt like I was a part of the most important thing that was happening on planet earth at the time, but it was not to last.

I’ve had to wrestle with and face the facts as God has graciously exposed this movement and its leaders to me and the world. The fact is, nearly every single superstar end-time apostle and prophet in the NAR movement, including my own mentor, has been exposed for having horrific unrepentant sin in their lives, or for being involved in the cover-up and perpetuation of such sins.

• Bob Jones has been exposed for multiple incidents involving multiple women that He exploited sexually through His prophetic ministry. Several details and incidents were covered up for almost thirty years by the leaders and system around him that protected him. The only reason we know more about the truth of His sins and abuse is because His brave victims have finally spoken up after decades of being mistreated.1

• Paul Cain has been exposed further, as more information has come out about his horrific predatory sexual abuse of male staff members and people who were under his spiritual authority.2

• Mike Bickle, who Sam Storms at one time called one of the most “biblically orthodox, humble, Christ-exalting individuals” that he knew3 was exposed in 2023 for sexually abusing at least seventeen women that we know of, over a fifty year period of time in ministry. One of his victims, Tammy Woods, was his fourteen year old baby sitter at the time of her abuse, and another woman, Deborah Perkins, testified that Mike initiated friendship with her and her family when she was twelve years old, and later started abusing her when she was just nineteen years old, after she moved to Kansas City and started interning under Him in the late 90’s. Bickle was in his forties at the time.4

• Shawn Bolz, who Bill Johnson once called “one of our most dearest and trusted friends”5 , was exposed for cheating in the prophetic and sexually harassing His male interns and employees that traveled with him in ministry. Bill Johnson admitted to still endorsing Shawn and his character publicly on TBN after he had already met with one of Shawn’s traumatized victims. Bethel Church’s leadership admitted to gross mishandling of the situation over many years, and that their mistakes led to further pain and suffering of Shawn’s victims.67

I could keep going and talk about Dr. Michael Brown, Robert Morris, Rick Joyner, Todd Bentley, Chris Reed, Bob Hartley, and so many others. But suffice to say this movement has been exposed sovereignly by the Lord, and this movement is not what it has purported to be for decades. The truth is the NAR and parts of the Charismatic Church as a whole contain some of the most unhealthy and unsafe leaders and ministries in the church today. Much of the movement has been built on the lies, half-truths, and myths of discredited false apostles and prophets. And now that the truth is having its day in the light, the movement that those stories and myths have held up like a house of cards for years is crumbling, and I don’t believe it will ever truly recover. And that’s a good thing. Some things need to die. Some things need to come to a necessary end.

Large parts of the movement have adopted false teaching and poor ecclesiology that has directly led to the institutional abuse of thousands, many of whom have had to go public on social media to receive due process and justice. Some of the ministries look more like the early days of the Mormon Church than Protestant churches today. They have elevated Joseph Smith type Apostles/Prophets that are blatantly raising their personal revelations to the level of Scripture, and in some cases, teaching right out of the Kabbalah, the books of Enoch, and other pseudepigraphal / extra-biblical written works that most of the church does not hold to be canon.

Some of the ministries in the NAR are so confused by a combination of demonic fantasy and/or mental illness, that they have lost all connection to our Christian historic faith, as well as the boundaries set by Protestantism through the sufficiency and authority of Scripture. Some of the most influential prophets in this movement teach that there are roller coasters in heaven and that John Wayne is still making movies there. They teach that aliens stole their eggs when they were children and created alien-human hybrids out of them. And recently, I heard one of these influential mystical NAR prophets teaching that Buddhist monks are closer to God than most Christians, and that He has learned a lot about prayer through studying the meditation practices of these monks. Saints, these are not small matters of disagreement on non-essential biblical doctrines. These are gross heresies, false teachings, and unsafe unorthodox practices which I believe have directly led to high-level demonic infiltration in this movement. Until the leaders and ministries who lead this movement recognize these errors, repent, and return to the way of reformation and truth, this movement is going to continue to go in the direction of heresy and sin. The Lord will continue to remove His lampstand from their midst (Rev. 2:5).

This is why I can no longer in good conscience call myself an NAR Charismatic. I’m a continuationist, I attend a church with my family that believes in the gifts, and I’ll always believe in the ongoing work and power of the Holy Spirit because I see it in the Bible and have seen the fruit of the Spirit’s continued ministry in my own life and in the church. But the Charismatic Church doesn’t own the move of the Spirit or revival, and in our ignorance I believe many of us have believed this and have acted like this. And for that I am deeply sorry. I repent for any sin of spiritual arrogance or superiority that I have participated in or helped to foster during my time in this movement.

CHANGES IN MY HEART AND MINISTRY

Since experiencing some of these difficult things these last seven years, I’ve felt the Lord come and walk beside me through it all. Never before have I felt more of the living reality of Christ my Shepherd, leading me to lie down in green pastures beside the still waters of His heart (Ps. 23:1-2). He has been gracious to lead me through the valley, to restore my soul, and to comfort me with his rod and staff during this difficult time and season (Ps. 23:3-4).

Out of this very real pastoral care which the Lord has shown me in my darkest hours, I feel strongly that God has changed me from the inside out and has given to me a shepherd’s heart through all of this. Because of this, my ministry moving forward will be that of a shepherd and pastor. I will preach and teach the Word as I always have, I will care for God’s sheep with love and compassion (starting with my family), and I will continue to minister to the Lord as a priest in my private prayer and devotional time, which has been and will remain my first ministry.

I will continue to fulfill a prophetic call that I still feel upon my life, but not in the way that prophetic ministry is thought of or practiced in the NAR. You won’t see me endlessly prognosticating about the future, prophesying about the endtime wealth transfer, or sharing endless angel stories that cause confusion and detract from the message of Christ crucified and the gospel. My prophetic ministry moving forward will be modeled after Jesus, Paul the Apostle, and biblical prophetic voices that I read about in Scripture. I will preach righteousness, call a sinful nation and people to repent and return to God, and I will speak under the Spirit’s prophetic unction as He continues to manifest in and through me according to His will (1 Cor. 12:11). Through the prophetic ministry that God has given me, I will continue to preach the word, convince, rebuke, and exhort with all long suffering and teaching (2 Tim. 4:2).

Discernment ministry will continue to be a part of my prophetic ministry and service to the body as well. One of my strongest spiritual gifts has always been the discerning of spirits, and I will continue to use that gift to help the body of Christ make sense out of what is happening spiritually in both the church and the world, from a biblical standpoint. I will continue to use the gifts God has entrusted to me to help the people of God walk in wisdom and freedom. I feel confident that I can handle discernment ministry both wisely and effectively, as long as I remain true to the Scriptures and use the shepherding heart that God has given me to keep the aim of this ministry pointedly on glorifying God and helping the body to walk in the light of Scripture. God forbid that I would ever use such a ministry for unwise speech, ungodly exposure, or the demonic acts of a busybody.

I’ve had some friends and partners reach out to me these last few years and express concern over me engaging in “discernment” or “exposure” ministry. Even though I love and respect everyone who has brought these concerns to me, after further prayer and reflection I still feel compelled and burdened to engage in this ministry from time to time, as I feel the Lord leading. I’m convinced it’s thoroughly biblical when properly balanced with other biblical mandates for ministry. I’m also convinced that it has been necessary given the season we’ve been in.

Our God is a God of mercy, and in his boundless mercy He will allow certain sins and situations to remain in the shadows for a season. He will allow the wheat to grow together with the tares, giving time to repent and time to make things right (Matt. 13:24-30). But eventually the truth must come into the light. Eventually justice must come, and I’m convinced that that is what has happened these last few years.

God has drawn a line in the sand, He has said enough is enough, and He has called men and women to step forward and be a part of exposing the unfruitful works of darkness (Eph. 5:11). By God’s sovereign choosing, I have been one of those people whom He chose to be a part of this ministry. It hasn’t been easy. It’s been a burden. It comes with a stigma of negativity and perceived filthiness which many respectable ministers and Christians would much rather avoid. But when you look to Scripture you find that it is an essential function of true prophetic ministry, and I’ve tried to the best of my ability to handle it with grace and humility. May the Lord continue to help me in this endeavor.

CONCLUSION

So, moving forward, I want to make it clear that many of these changes that you’ve seen in me and the ministry are here to stay. I have peace with where God has led me and how He has shaped me through it all. I hope that writing this article and speaking a little more pointedly about these issues at hand has brought more clarity to you about who I am now and who I believe the Lord is calling me to be moving forward.

As I’ve stated, one of the reasons I’m writing this letter is specifically for my financial partners and donors who have supported me and this ministry for a number of years. I believe this to be the right thing to do. I believe that as a minister of the gospel I should be honest and forthright about changes that have been made so that you, my financial partners and supporters, can decide for yourselves if this is a ministry you want to continue supporting and helping to fund. We continue to need your support for the work at hand. But if you feel, given the changes that have been made, that there’s no longer enough agreement for you to continue to walk with us, I want to tell you today that that’s okay. I bless you in the name of the Lord to move forward with your ministry support according to your convictions and beliefs.

If you choose to continue to support me and this ministry, I believe your financial seeds will be going into the most spiritually fertile soil that we’ve ever had in this ministry. There’s a depth to the Word, there’s a wisdom and maturity that God has forged in the fire here, and there’s impact that’s being made in hundreds of thousands of people’s lives every day, which I’ll talk more about in my next article, where I’ll be sharing more about the vision and future of this ministry.

But that’ll do it for today’s article. I pray it’s been insightful and helpful to you, whether you’re a casual reader or a long-time partner. If you’ve been moved by today’s writing and are feeling the call to partner with us and help us move forward, please click one of the buttons below and become a monthly partner through our website or by becoming a paid subscriber through Substack. God bless!

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After completing my 11-part series "A Biblical Examination of Candace Owens", I’m taking a short break from the weekly article and podcast schedule to focus on an important transition for my family and ministry. I’ll still be sharing selected content during this time, and I look forward to returning with new teaching soon. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

God bless,
Stephen

In the meantime, check out my most recent series that I’ve just completed in article and podcast.

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